


The Sons of Queen

by DonnieTheFu



Series: Little Freddie [11]
Category: Queen (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Freddie Doesn't Die Or Have AIDS, Alternate Universe - Freddie Has Kids, Bromance, Cute, Discipline, Domestic Fluff, Drama, F/M, Falling In Love, Family, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Father-Son Relationship, Feels, First Kiss, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Love, Love Confessions, M/M, Memories, Non-Explicit Sex, Rock Stars, Rock and Roll, Romance, Sex Drugs and Rock and Roll, Spanking, Sweet, Teenage Angst and Rebellion, Teenage boy shenanigans, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-20
Updated: 2020-11-11
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:22:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 70,308
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22821718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DonnieTheFu/pseuds/DonnieTheFu
Summary: Backstory for The Sons of Queen (Little Freddie, Felix Taylor, Jimmy May, & Robert Deacon)This story follows them on their rise to fame - from teenage nights and studio fights, to the bright stage lights, fame, fortune, and adoration of thousands of screaming fans, that they’ve always dreamed about. But as they follow in their father’s footsteps, they come to learn that music is a hard mistress, and success always exacts it’s price. What remains, and what gets left behind?
Relationships: Jim Hutton/Freddie Mercury, John Deacon & Brian May & Freddie Mercury & Roger Taylor, Mary Austin & Freddie Mercury, Mary Austin/Freddie Mercury, Original Female Character/Original Male Character, Robert Deacon & Jimmy May & Felix Taylor
Series: Little Freddie [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1526273
Comments: 52
Kudos: 15





	1. Studio Dis-Chord

**Author's Note:**

  * For [agathe13](https://archiveofourown.org/users/agathe13/gifts).



> This is for agathe13 who requested a story about Little Freddie & his band.
> 
> I would really appreciate no criticism (constructive or otherwise), or negativity in the comments section, please. This is just my hobby that I do for fun. Thank you! :)
> 
> Copyright © May 20, 2020 DonnieTheFu All Rights Reserved
> 
> ***DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fiction. Any semblance between original characters and real persons, living or dead, is coincidental. The author in no way represents the companies, corporations, or brands mentioned in this work. The likeness of historical/famous figures have been used fictitiously; the author does not speak for or represent these people. All opinions expressed in this work are the author’s, or fictional.***

"This isn't a fucking boy band, hey! Some fucking barber shop quartet!" Felix shouted at Robert across the studio.

"Yeah, mate," Jimmy agreed.

The Sons of Queen were at Abbey Road Studios recording their first album, and the first (of many) shouting matches had just broken out.

“Ooh.” Inside the control room, Freddie raised his eyebrows and looked around at Roger, Brian, John, and Mack. Brian grimaced. The boys had requested that their fathers produce the album, and said they wanted Reinhold Mack for their sound engineer. Little Freddie sat beside them watching the proceedings in silence.

"Well, at least I'm writing original material!" Robert fired back. "The Sons of Queen aren't supposed to be a Queen tribute band, either. All the two of you've managed to write are parodies of our dad's songs - with your _Flat Chested Women_ and _Aeroplane Race_ and _I'm In Love With My Bin Lorry_!"

"What are you on about? _Woman You're So Beautiful_ is original! And _Aeroplane Race_ is Freddie's. And what about his two singles - _My Father's Son_ and _The_ _Sons of Queen_? Those are both originals."

" _The_ _Sons of Queen!_ It still says Queen in it!"

"Oh my God, mate!" Felix took his head in his hands. "Are you being for real right now? Are you fucking serious? The name of the bloody band is The Sons of Queen! And those two singles were already released months ago. So why would you even bring that up?"

"I didn't! You did! And you-" Robert turned on Jimmy. "The way you're playing the chords sounds like you're just marking time!"

"Well, he's right!" Felix joined in. "You're just going CHIN CHIN CHONG! WAAANG! Like that."

"I'm just playing what I always play. I'm just playing exactly what we've all agreed upon," Jimmy argued.

"Play it back!" Felix shouted at the control room.

"No, I don't want to fucking hear it back."

“Besides, Felix, where do you get off telling other people how to play, when you won’t even CONSIDER taping your drums, not even for one song,” Robert said.

“Maybe the reason he doesn’t want to tape his drums is because it’s a stupid FUCKING idea!” Jimmy hollered back.

Suddenly, Felix burst into the control room. "Dad-"

"No, don't come in here with all that, Felix-" Roger cut him off. "This isn't nursery school."

"It isn't?" Freddie asked, amused.

"What do you want us to do? Give them a time-out? We're just here to produce the record, not to run interference and break up fights. The four of you work it out amongst yourselves," Roger told him. "In the meantime, we're going to get lunch. Call us when you're actually ready to record something." As Roger and the others prepared to leave, Felix returned to the studio, the fighting growing even louder than before.

Little Freddie got up from the controls and went into the studio, putting himself between the other three. "Oh, for fuck's sake!"

They all fell silent and cast a glance at the control room. But Freddie and the others had already gone. Though Freddie himself swore like a sailor, he had never allowed Little Freddie to swear, though Little Freddie supposed it was different now that he was a grown-up man living out on his own. But even so, it still made him nervous to swear in front of his father.

Felix punched him playfully on the arm. "Ha ha, mate. You were scared there for a second, weren't you?" he laughed. "You remember that time your old man caught you swearing?"…

How could Little Freddie forget? What an epic punishment that had been. It had happened several months ago, when Freddie had been seventeen and still living at home. He and Felix had been practicing in the garage at Garden Lodge. He'd been playing along beautifully on the piano until he pressed the wrong key.

"Shit!"

"You like swearing, young man?"

Little Freddie jumped, startled. His father had suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

"Huh? You like saying _shit_?"

"What? No, Dad, I-"

"Well, good. Because you're about to get up real close and personal with it. You're to scrub all the toilets and empty the cats' litter trays for a week," Freddie told him, pointing his finger at him. “We’ll see how potty-mouthed you are after you’ve had to clean them all.”

"Oh, no, Dad, come on! That's not fair! I didn't mean it. It just slipped out, I swear!"

But Freddie ignored him. "I'll inform Phoebe," he said as he walked away.

Felix couldn't help but laugh at Little Freddie's misfortune. "You should have said pussy or tits, mate, so you could get up real close and personal with those for a week."

That made Little Freddie start laughing as well.

"What was that?" Freddie had reappeared in the doorway.

"Nothing, Dad! We were just-"

"Well, since you find it so funny, you can do it for two weeks. How about that?"

"No, Dad, please! I-"

But Freddie just walked again.

Felix was bent double, wheezing with laughter now.

"Would you shut up before you get me into any more trouble?" Little Freddie told him.

"Alright, Mr. Janitor," Felix said, once he'd regained his composure. "Let's do this."

"F-" Little Freddie began, but stopped himself, and cast a glance at the doorway. "Fuck off!" he mouthed, giving Felix the finger, which only made him laugh all the harder…

"Yes, I remember," Little Freddie grinned at the memory.

"Yeah, well then, you better watch it, mate," Felix said, pointing his finger at him. "Otherwise you'll end up scrubbing all the toilets in the whole damn studio."

They all had a good laugh at that.

"Listen," Little Freddie said. "Let's all just take a break, grab a beer, and cool down a bit, huh? And then in a little while, we'll all come back in here and have a look at everything together, alright?" The others nodded their agreement. "Okay."

After a brief rest, they all came into the control room and sat down. Little Freddie sat his beer on the table, and spread out a piece of notebook paper beside it. “Alright, let’s see here now. We said there’s going to be twelve songs on the album, right?” He numbered the page from one to twelve. “And so far we’ve got _The_ _Sons of Queen_ and _My Father’s Son_ , which we released back in November and December. Those were our two debut singles, and they were really big hits for us. I mean they went straight to the top of the charts! So I think they have to be on the album,” he said. “Then we’ve got the parody songs, or whatever you want to call them - _Flat-Chested Women, Aeroplane Race,_ and _I'm In Love With My Bin Lorry_. And I think Robert's right. We don't want to go overboard with that sort of thing. We probably don't need to write any more songs in that vein at the moment. But the ones we've got now, I think we should keep them. They'll be fine. They'll be more than fine, actually. They're all very tongue in cheek and they're funny. I think people are going to like them and they'll make them laugh. Especially since we're going to be dedicating them to 'all the hardworking bin men and women, pilots, flight crew, and airport workers here in London and around the world'. That'll resonate well with the working class, and they'll enjoy having songs written about them. As far as I know, no one else has ever done anything like that before. So that still leaves us seven slots for original material, and we've already got Felix's song _Woman You're So Beautiful_ …" Then he looked up at the others. "And as far as the rest of it goes, I think we all need to keep an open mind and be willing to compromise. Just because Robert wants to have one pop song, doesn't mean we're suddenly going to turn into a boy band. Though you've got to admit, Felix, you do sort of look the type."

At that very moment, Felix was applying his third layer of lip balm for the day. "Fuck off!" he said, good-naturedly.

"I'm just saying, mate, you're the prettiest one out of the four of us. Give the chicks a run for their money, I'm telling ya," Little Freddie laughed. Then he turned serious. "But anyway, the point is, we can't be scared to take risks, and try out new and different things." He turned to Jimmy. "Jimmy, you might just try playing some longer cords like the others have suggested. More rhythm, you know? Maybe just give it a try and see how it goes."

"Yeah, alright," Jimmy agreed, hands in pocket, scuffing at the floor with the toe of a shoe.

"And Felix you could at least think about taping your drums, just for the one song to see how it sounds," Little Freddie said.

"Well, I don't like it," Felix said, crossing his arms over his chest. "But I'll think about it."

"Alright, well, we've still got plenty of studio time. So I say we meet up again next week, and see what we've come up with by then," Little Freddie said, and the others all concurred.

*******

That night Little Freddie sat playing at the piano in his and his girlfriend Mary's flat. Mary came up behind him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Hard day at the studio?"

"Mm. Felix and the others got into a big fight. But I think we've got it all sorted out now," Little Freddie told her. "We just need to write some more songs."

"Well, you know I love you," she said.

"I love you too." They kissed, and then she walked away, disappearing into the kitchen. Little Freddie turned back to the piano. He began playing _Let It Be_ by The Beatles and sang to himself: "When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me. Speaking words of wisdom, 'Let it be.'" _Hmm. Mary. Mary! That's it! He would write a song for Mary._ He picked up his pencil and began scribbling feverishly, the lyrics just seeming to flow out. When it was finished, the first verse ended up being sort of semi-religious with references to the Madonna, the second verse was about his mother, and the third verse for his girlfriend. Then he went upstairs, where he found Mary lying in bed, watching telly and eating popcorn. He handed her the piece of paper to read.

"Oh my gosh, Freddie," she said, a hand pressed to her chest. "It's beautiful."

"Thank you, darling. But I'm afraid it doesn't do you justice. No words ever could," Little Freddie told her, stroking a piece of hair away from her face. "You're so beautiful. Like an angel. Sometimes I can't quite believe you're mine."

"Stop it, Freddie!" she laughed. "You're just saying that because you're horny!"

"No, I mean it!" he said, furrowing his brow. "You're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen." He kissed her, and then they made love, bathed in the glow of the television screen. Afterwards, they lay beside each other, he playing with her hand.

"Told you it was because you were horny," Mary said to him. Little Freddie just laughed, then locked his fingers in hers and brought her hand to his mouth for a kiss.

"Freddie?" she said, running her hand through his hair.

"Hmm?"

"Do you think we'll always be together?"

"What do you mean? Of course we'll always be together!"

"I just mean, now that you're getting famous and all, I'm sure there'll be women throwing themselves at you around every corner."

"They don't mean anything to me," he told her, staring at the screen. "All that matters to me is you, and our happiness."

"But-"

"No!" He turned toward her then. "We'll always be together. That's it. It's already been written."

"Where is it written?" she asked, rolling her eyes, teasingly.

"In my songs," he told her. "It's immortalized now, you see. Just think, long after we're dead and gone, people will still be listening to your song, and singing about our love."...

*******

“Well, what’ve we got?” Little Freddie asked the next week when they’d returned to the studio. It turned out they’d all been quite prolific in their time away. One evening, Jimmy had sat listening to _Stairway to Heaven_ by Led Zeppelin and was inspired to write a song called _One Breath Away From Paradise_.

“One breath away from Paradise…One breath away from that sweet moment in time…” Jimmy sang, as he strummed on his guitar. “The first verse is about this guy having sex with his girlfriend,” he explained. “And the second verse is about him smoking marijuana and getting high after they’ve broken up. And the third verse is about dying – like he’s led a pretty shitty life after she left him, but now his last hope with his dying breath is that he’s going to see her again when he enters paradise.” He’d also written another song entitled _Here Comes The Sun Through A Purple Haze (A Tribute To Lennon & Hendrix): Here comes the sun through a purple haze/Life's like walking 'round in a daze/Since you've been gone/Got to carry on...somehow..._

And Robert had written two songs – _Diss-satisfaction_ , which turned out to be a sort of thinly veiled diss track about Felix and Jimmy ( _You’re always saying it’s my way or the highway, bloke. You’re the kind that would bitch if they hung you with a new rope_.) But no one could deny that it sounded pretty damn good. He’d also written _Staring At The Wall (Trying To Write This Damn Song & Thinking About You)_.

“What the bloody hell's this shit here, mate?” Felix said about the latter. “Sounds like a country and western song. Staring at the wall, trying to write this damn song, _cleaning my gun,_ and thinking about you… _Maryanne_ ,” Felix sang in his imitation of a southern twang.

“It’s supposed to be a love song,” Robert said defensively, grabbing back his sheet of lyrics.

“No worries, mate. I’m just taking the piss.” Felix punched him playfully on the arm with a smile. “And I still haven’t figured out whether this one here is about gardening or sex,” he said about another song Little Freddie had written, this time with his father and Jim in mind, called _Titillating Tulips_ ( _Titillating tulips/sat drinking mint juleps/with planting on my mind/Yeah, gotta get my hose/between the rows, baby/it's one of a kind_ ). They all laughed. “Well,” he said, looking around at the others as he twirled his drumsticks. “Are we gonna fuckin’ do this shit or what?”

“Yeah, hang on,” Little Freddie said. “We’re ready now.” He motioned to the control room.

“Right,” came his father’s voice from the intercom, and the boys took their places.

When the base line started, and then the drums, and Jimmy came in with his guitar, it gave Little Freddie such a feeling – even better than sex. He could feel the music coursing through his veins, the bass line his heartbeat. He became the music, and sang the songs with such passion and conviction as if they were all his own, as if he were actually living everything the lyrics spoke of, until his throat was raw and he was out of breath. Panting, he opened his eyes, not realizing they’d been closed, and looked at the others, who grinned back, realizing they’d all just completely killed it. Then he looked towards the control room, where his father, Roger, Brian, and John all sat with quiet smiles.

“Right,” came his father’s voice again from the intercom…


	2. The Son Of A Legend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is really more about Mary and Freddie. It goes back in time to when Little Freddie was first born. Sorry it's so long! I hope you still enjoy it anyway :)

One afternoon a few days later, after they'd finished work at the studio for the day, Little Freddie came by to visit his mother.

"So, how are things in the studio?" Mary asked, setting the sitting room table with tea and biscuits. Freddie was sat nearby, poodling around at the piano.

"We're not quite finished yet, but it's sounding good," he said. "We've gotten a lot done these last few days, but we still need a bit more time."

"When do you think the album will be released?" his mother inquired.

"EMI's already set a release date for May 15. That's the first day of our first tour. It's going to be a UK tour," Little Freddie told her. "We're to play Queen Mary College in Basingstoke, as a sort of throwback in remembrance of our dads - that's the very same venue Queen played after releasing their first album. Which is nice I suppose, although we could easily play somewhere much larger."

"Well, that's wonderful, darling," Mary said. "You know your father and I, and the other parents, we're all so proud of you boys."

"Thanks, Mum." Little Freddie reached out and took her hand. "I couldn't have done it without you and dad believing in me." Then he turned back to the piano, and Mary sat down on the sofa, picking up her saucer and cup of tea. But she couldn't help but look at him and smile. Today he had on a t-shirt, his necklace with the cross and faravahar (symbol of Zoroastrianism) that he always wore, dark-wash jeans with a big buckle belt, and Adidas trainers (tennis shoes). His leather jacket lay beside him on the piano seat, his shades on the lid. He turned and caught her staring.

"What?" he asked with a chuckle.

"Oh, nothing," Mary said dismissively with a wave of her hand. "It's just...you look so much like your father." And he did. With his medium length hair, he looked like a younger version of his father from the late '70s. And suddenly, just like that, she was caught up in a wave of memory, that carried her back into the past…

*******

**May 1973 - Kensington, London, England**

Mary stopped to check her makeup in the hallway mirror, an old used one that Freddie had rescued from a dustbin near his and Roger's tiny ten-pound-a-week ‘Kasbah’ stall located on Kensington Market's 'Death Row', where they sold bric-a-brac, paintings, second-hand clothes, fur coats and the like when they weren't focused on their main obsession - making music. It had a crack running across it diagonally from one corner to the other, but was still serviceable if one managed to look in it from just the right angle. Then she went into the kitchen to smooth the tablecloth again for the hundredth time. On this rare afternoon that she gotten off work early at Biba, she'd prepared them a lovely steak dinner (which they really couldn't afford) - a couple of discount steaks (she'd carefully cut away the grayish-brown bits) and a bottle of the cheapest wine available at the local grocery. Freddie should have been home by now. If he didn't arrive soon, the food would get cold and the whole evening would be ruined. Just when she'd been about to go back and check the front door again, she'd heard the key turning in the lock, and Freddie soon appeared in the doorway.

"Darling, you're home!" Mary rushed forward to wrap her arms around him and kiss his cheek. "How was your day?" she asked, laying a hand on his chest. Luckily she'd caught him in a good mood. And why shouldn't he be? Queen had now signed with Trident and EMI, bringing home a hefty £20 a week each as part of a magnanimous sweetener deal. They'd gone into Langham Studios, Portland Place, London and recorded their first session for BBC Radio 1's _Sound of the 70s_ programme. And a little over a month ago on April 9th, they'd even played the Marquee in London. Things were definitely starting to look up for Queen, and for Freddie and Mary here in their tiny Kensington flat.

"What's this?" Freddie asked when Mary brought him into the kitchen. "Steak?"

"Now that you're becoming a legend-" Mary said. "-I thought you'd better start eating like one."

Freddie sat down, picked up his fork and knife, and began eating right away, as if he were starving. "One day very soon, when Queen finally make it big-" Freddie said. It was always _when_ , not _if_. "-I will never again eat hamburgers."

Freddie chattered on about his and Queen's future plans - all the things they would do and have, and Mary sat there, chin resting in hand, hanging on his every word. She laughed at all his jokes (which wasn't something she really had to work at as Freddie was always hysterically funny), and her replies to him were smooth as silk, stroking his ego.

"It sounds like you'll have it all, dear," she said, tidying away the dishes after they'd finished eating and carrying them to the sink. "Except for one very important thing - something all legends should have."

"What's that?" Freddie asked.

"Someone to carry on their legacy, of course," Mary said.

"What-what do you mean?" Freddie asked, perhaps a bit nervously.

"Just that - someone to carry on your legacy. Just like Hendrix had James and Tamika, Lennon has Julian, and Elvis has Lisa Marie." Mary was quite proud of herself that she'd taken the time to research the names of his idols' children.

"You mean a...a baby?"

"Well, yes," Mary told him.

There was silence for a moment, then Freddie burst out laughing as if she'd just told the funniest joke in the world. 

"I don't see what's so very funny about it," Mary said. "We've been together a little over two and a half years now. We're engaged to be married..." _Although they still hadn't set a date yet..._

"I'm sorry, darling," Freddie said, still laughing. "I thought surely you must be joking! I mean can you imagine it? Me having a baby?"

"You wouldn't be the one having the baby, Freddie, you know," Mary told him. "That would be me."

"Ha ha, very funny," Freddie rolled his eyes good-naturedly. "Come on, you know what I mean. I wouldn't know the first thing about taking care of a baby."

"It's not like you'd be doing it alone, Freddie," Mary said. "It's something we'd learn to do together."

"I just don't think right now is a good time," Freddie said.

"If we wait until the right time, it'll never happen," Mary told him. "There's never going to be a time when everything's completely perfect. There'll always be something standing in the way."

"Having a baby is an immense responsibility - the kind of responsibility I don't want," Freddie said. "I’m not built to be a family man. I’m much too restless and highly-strung for that. My life is very volatile."

"So, are you saying you're not ever going to want to have children, then?" Mary asked.

"No, no, I'm not saying that at all," Freddie told her. "I’d love to have a baby. That would be nice, but I’d rather have another cat," he laughed. "If I want to do it, I'll do it properly, and I need to really feel interested in it. Maybe in another couple of years, or in another three years’ time, I might have a settled down feeling, but at this moment in time, no. I want to see how far it goes with the band and then I can think of things like that."

Mary supposed that was it then. Here she was wanting to have a baby, and Freddie would just rather have another cat.

"Please, don't be upset, darling." Freddie reached out to touch her arm.

"No, of course I'm not upset." Mary forced a smile. "I understand. And you're right. I guess I let the excitement of the idea get the better of common sense, and I didn't really stop to think things through. We've still got plenty of time to start a family together, haven't we?"

"That's right, darling," Freddie told her. "We've got all the time in the world."

Later that night they lay down in bed beside each other.

"Well...good night, Freddie," Mary said, reaching over to turn off the lamp.

"Good night," Freddie replied whereupon he turned over on his side and fell immediately asleep. Or so it appeared to Mary. But the truth was Freddie was finding it very difficult to fall asleep. He lay there in the darkness, lost in his silent thoughts. _Though she did her best not to show it, Freddie knew he'd hurt her deeply. He hadn't meant to hurt her of course. He would never hurt Mary. And though he'd only meant it as a joke, he realized his remark that he'd rather have another cat, had probably gone too far. But it was just that he and the boys were just now starting out. He and Mary could barely afford to eat as it was - just the two of them. They didn't even own curtains for their windows or a television. If he wanted to see something on telly, he'd have to run down and stand in front of the shop windows and watch it on the television screens they had there on display. And now she wanted to throw a baby into the mix? How were they ever to pay for all the things a baby would need - diapers, and formula, and all those sorts of things? She'd have to quit her job at Biba to look after it, he supposed, making him the sole breadwinner. Then what? He hated admitting it, even to himself, but deep down inside, he knew there were no guarantees Queen would ever be successful. But on the other hand, suppose they were? What sort of father, or husband for that matter, would he be always being away on tour all the time? He'd already suffered through that as a little boy with his own father, and he'd never wish that on a child of his own. And anyway, he wasn't sure he was even cut out to be father material..._ He did eventually manage to fall asleep, but it was a fitful sleep, tossing and turning all night long.

Now Mary wasn't the type to hold a grudge, or get angry and upset when she didn't get her way. And in the morning she'd fixed Freddie a lovely breakfast, and was just as kind and caring towards him as she always was, as if last night had never even happened. And that just made the guilty feeling in the pit of Freddie's stomach even worse. He somehow managed to choke down breakfast, despite the fact that he didn't really feel much like eating, then trudged off down to the stall with Roger, still consumed by his worries. 

Once there, he tried, unsuccessfully, to concentrate on his work (for once) to get his mind off things. Brian dropped by to visit later in the afternoon. It was as he and Roger were chattering on in the background, that suddenly Freddie had an epiphany. _He'd gone about thinking about this whole thing all wrong. His dream was to make music. Mary's dream was to have a baby - his baby. Since the very beginning, she'd always been there for him when nobody else was. She'd sacrificed everything - all her other hopes and dreams, and worked tirelessly to support he and the band both emotionally and financially this entire time, and had never once complained. Then when she'd come to him asking the same in return, he'd shot her down without even really listening. Imagine if she'd done that to him about his music. He could never live with somebody like that. But yet that's exactly what he'd done to her. What a conceited, selfish arsehole he'd been! And yet Mary still loved him all the same. Besides, how bad could it possibly be? Roger already had a son - Felix, who had just turned one-year-old, and Brian and his wife were expecting a child together next month, and they both seemed to be getting along alright. It did sound quite nice - having a little Freddie or a little Mary running around. Somebody to carry on his legacy like Mary had said. He could just see it now - standing up on stage one day in front of thousands of screaming fans, his arm around his son's shoulders and-_ He was suddenly brought back to reality by the sound of Roger snapping his fingers. 

Roger whistled, waving his hand in front of Freddie's face. "Hello! Earth to Freddie!" Freddie finally turned to look at him. "Could you ring her up?" he said, indicating a smiling young woman with one of their "vintage dresses" draped over her arm.

"Oh, sorry. I was just-" Freddie apologized, before absent-mindedly ringing her up and sending her on her way.

"What's the matter with you, mate?" Roger asked, once Freddie had finished. "Who pissed in your tea this morning? You've been acting down in the dumps all day."

"Nobody- I-I just wanted to know if I could ask the two of you a question," Freddie said, looking at the both of them. "I know this might sound strange coming from me but...What's it like being a father?"

"It's the greatest thing that's ever happened to me," Roger told him. "And that's understating it."

"I know our little one hasn't been born yet, but when Chrissy told me she was pregnant, there was instantly such a joy in my heart that I'd never known before," Brian told him. "A love beyond feeling…"

"Why, mate?" Roger asked. "You and Mary thinking about having a baby?"

"Yeah," Freddie answered him, his face breaking into a smile. "I think we are…"

*******

Mary was at home when suddenly Freddie burst in through the door.

"Mary! Mary!" He called, running over to her. 

"What is it, Freddie?" Mary asked, alarmed. "What's happened?"

"I've been thinking about it, and I've decided I do want to have a baby," he told her, already beginning to undo his trousers.

"Whoa! Whoa! Freddie!" Mary laughed. "Freddie, are you sure about this? I don't want you to feel pressured into doing anything you don't want to do. I love you, Freddie, and I just want you to be happy."

"I love you too," Freddie told her. "And as long as you're happy, I'm happy. So, let me make us both happy then, huh? Come on, darling, let's make a baby!"

***** Half An Hour Or So Later *****

"Oh my God, Freddie, that was amazing!" Mary sighed. The sex between them had always been great but _that,_ that had been incredible - the kind of hot, steamy love-making that almost feels like a religious experience, when your toes curl and your eyes roll back in your head as you grip the sweaty, tangled sheets in your fists, and your body shudders with pleasure. They lay beside each other now, spent but refreshed.

"No half measures with me, darling," Freddie grinned cheekily. "So, when can you take the test?"

"Freddie!" Mary laughed, a hand held to her forehead. "That's not how it works!"

"It's not?" he asked.

"No! It'll still be a while yet before we know if we've succeeded," she told him. "I'll have to wait and see if my cycle comes at the end of the month, and if it doesn't then I can do the test. But these sort of things don't always happen on the first try, you know. You have to get your timing just right - do it on the right days-"

"And are we doing it on one of the right days?" Freddie asked.

"Well, yes," Mary said. "But even then a lot of the time it's hit or miss. Sometimes it takes a few months of trying before it all works out."

"Oh," Freddie said, a little disappointed. "But maybe don't you feel just a _little_ bit pregnant?"

"Freddie!" Mary laughed again.

*******

"Mary?" Freddie said the next morning in the kitchen, just before leaving for work down at the stall.

"Yes, Freddie?" she said without looking up from her breakfast.

"Maybe just the smallest, _tiniest_ little bit?" he asked.

"Freddie," she shook her head at him and smiled.

The next few weeks of waiting were torture for Freddie, but at the end of the month Mary's expected visitor didn't show.

"Yes! I knew it!" Freddie exclaimed, rubbing his hands together, but was rather disappointed when Mary told him she'd have to wait another ten days to make sure her "visitor" wasn't just running late.

Finally, the long awaited day arrived.

"Can you take the test now? Can you take the test?"

"Yes, I'm going to take it right now," Mary said. She opened up the box of the new at-home pregnancy test that had just come out on the market - _The Predictor_ , and set up the kit which looked very similar to a chemistry set.

"We'll put a little of this in here." Mary added a few drops of urine she'd collected into the test tube. "And- _ahem_." She looked behind her at Freddie who was hovering over her shoulder.

"Oh, sorry," he said, backing off slightly.

"Then we'll shake it up." She agitated the test tube, then placed it in the holder. "And now we just wait two hours," she smiled.

"Two hours!" Freddie groaned.

Mary did her best to keep him distracted while they waited - no easy task. But even so, the time seemed to crawl by at a snail's pace. Freddie was sure even paint dried faster than this.

"What does it say? What does it say?" Freddie asked when the time finally came. Mary looked into the little mirror below the test tube and saw that a brown ring had appeared. _Positive._

"Oh my God, Freddie! You were right!" Mary cried. "I am! I am pregnant!"

"Really? Are-are you sure?" Freddie stammered.

"Yes! Here, have a look." Mary showed him how to look into the mirror so he could see the ring. "Oh, Freddie! This is it! You're going to be a daddy!"

"I-I am?" All of a sudden Freddie wasn't feeling so sure about all of this anymore. "Excuse me just a moment, darling." He went into the loo and closed the door, then put the lid down on the toilet and sat down with his head in his hands. _Oh God, what have I done?_ Mary's knock came at the door.

"Freddie, are you alright in there? Can I come in?"

"Y-yes, yes, come in," he answered her, standing up.

Mary opened the door and came over, wrapping her arms around him, her head resting against his chest. "Oh, Freddie. I'm so happy."

Freddie put his arms around her as well, and just like that, the dreadful feeling he'd been having disappeared.

*******

All that was left now it seemed was to tell their parents. It was decided they would tell Mary's parents first. Her parents invited them over for tea, and Freddie had never been more nervous about something in his life.

"Mum, Dad, Freddie and I have something to tell you," Mary said, signing for her father who was deaf. "I'm pregnant!" For a moment afterwards it was complete silence.

"What did she say?" her father signed to her mother for confirmation.

"She said she's pregnant!" her mother signed back.

Her father turned to her again. "You're pregnant?"

"Yeah, I am," Mary signed.

Her father stood up and came over to her, tears of joy streaming down his face, and hugged her tight. And no words at all were needed for that.

Then they went to visit Freddie's parents. He and Mary and his parents were sat there when Kash walked in.

"What's this?" she asked.

"Kashi," Bomi said, "Farrokh and Mary have something to tell us."

Kash looked from one to the other of them. "Oh my God! Mary's pregnant, isn't she?"

Mary blushed, nodding her head and Kash squealed and rushed over to hug her.

Freddie's parents sat there, stunned looks on both their faces. Clearly this hadn't been what they were expecting. Finally, his father spoke.

"Mary's pregnant?"

"That's right," Freddie told them. Then they both smiled.

"Oh, _beta!_ " His mother came over with tears in her eyes to hug him and Mary. "Such wonderful news!" 

"Maybe a son, huh?" Bomi beamed. "To carry on the family religion?"

"Or daughter," Freddie reminded him. "The most important thing, the only thing that matters really, is that he or she be born healthy."

"Of course! Of course!" Bomi agreed, but Freddie could still see the glint in his eye...

"Well, that went better than expected," Freddie said as they were leaving his parents' home. Later, he rang Brian, Roger, and John to come round to the flat so he and Mary could share the news with them as well.

"Congratulations," John smiled.

"Oh, you're in for it now, Fred!" Roger teased. "It's all changing dirty nappies and sleepless nights from here on out!"

"No, don't listen to him," Brian said, waving Roger off. "The two of you are going to make excellent parents. And you know if you or Mary need anything, anything at all, Chrissie and I here for you, always."

"Us too, mate," Roger said, he and John each placing a hand on Freddie's shoulder.

*******

After that time seemed to fly by. The next month Brian and Chrissie welcomed their son, Jimmy, into the world. Then in July, the band released their first album _Queen_. Their single _'Keep Yourself Alive'_ was released as well and was played on the Old Grey Whistle Test programme. Queen also played The Marquee again, this time supporting a band called Sparks. In August they went back into Trident Studios to begin work on their second album - _Queen II_. And in September they recorded their first live _In Concert_ session for BBC Radio at the Golders Green Hippodrome. Freddie worried himself sick when in October he had to leave Mary alone overnight for the first time. Queen were playing their first concert outside of the UK in Bonn-Bad Godesberg, Germany.

"Are you sure you don't want to go stay with your parents?" Freddie asked for about the thousandth time.

"No, don't worry about us, darling." Mary smiled to reassure him, resting her hands on her growing stomach. "We'll be just fine."

It was in November when Queen were about to begin their first real tour of the UK supporting Mott the Hoople, that Freddie got to feel the baby move for the first time.

"Freddie! Freddie! Come here quick!" Mary called, waving him over. She took his hand and placed it over her belly. Freddie stood completely mesmerized at the tiny stirring, more like a flutter, beneath his palm. "I put your record on today and right away the baby started kicking like mad," Mary told him. "A Queen fan already."

Over the next few months, the band continued their tour, by the end of which Mott the Hoople had begun to become frightened of them, as Queen were now stealing all the shows. It ended in December just before Christmas with a memorable performance at London’s Hammersmith Odeon. 

In February EMI arranged for them to play the Sunbury Pop Festival in Melbourne, Australia. What with Mary being so close to her due date, combined with the fact that she'd now begun to experience some light cramping and contractions on and off, Freddie was quite reluctant to leave her. But Mary insisted.

"We both knew this was going to happen eventually - that Queen would start touring more," she said. "Besides, I've got plenty of people here looking after me - my mum, your mum, Kash…" She reached up to touch Freddie's face. "You go down there and play your heart out. And we'll be right here waiting for you when you get back."

So Freddie reluctantly agreed. "I'll call you as soon as we get to the hotel," he told her.

But they were soon met with misfortune. Following a routine travel inoculation against smallpox, Brian's arm began to swell and he later developed gangrene (from which he thankfully recovered). Then it seemed it was Freddie's turn. It was a thirty hour journey, and during the flight to Sydney, his fear of flying first manifested itself, and he became agitated almost to the point of panic. He would remain aerophobic for life. When they finally arrived at the hotel, Freddie called Mary straightway, but everything was fine. The heat was brutal having come right from an English winter, so to cool off he and the others decided to go for a swim in the hotel's pool. But that turned out to be a mistake as well. Freddie must've gotten some water trapped in his ear, as a few days later he was also struck ill with a painful ear infection, resulting in the temporary loss of his hearing. The trip seemed jinxed. 

It was the day of the gig, a little before eleven in the morning, that Freddie received a call at the hotel from Mary's mother, telling him that Mary had gone into labor and was being taken to the hospital. Freddie was completely beside himself with worry. "I should have never left her," he said. Brian and the others did their best to keep him calm, but to no avail. A few hours later, before leaving the hotel for the show, Freddie called again and was told that Mary had begun to push.

They were in for even more troubles when they arrived at the venue, Queen's stage crew and the Australian stage crew getting into a fight thereby causing damage to the band's lighting rig. And to top it all off, they were introduced to the stage as 'a bunch of stuck up pommie bastards' by a hostile MC, who turned the crowd against them. As such, with Freddie's anxiety over Mary and the baby, and all their other problems, none of them felt much up to performing, and the show was lukewarm at best. They left the stage whilst hearing jeers from the audience like, "Go back to Pommyland, ya pooftahs!" 

But all those bad things seemed to just fade away when they arrived back at the hotel and Freddie called and was told he now had a son - Frederick "Freddie" Bomi Mercury born February 12, 1974 at 7:52 A.M. (London Time), with a headful of jet-black hair just like his father. It seemed there were also some _other things_ he'd inherited from his father as well.

"And it is most definitely a boy!" the nurse had declared with a grin when Little Freddie first made his debut into the world. Freddie just had to laugh when Mary told him that. At last when he was satisfied that Mary and the baby were both fine and doing well, he hung up the phone. 

"It's a boy!" he told the others who had gathered around him awaiting word. They all cheered and congratulated him and Mary once more. Freddie was absolutely exhilarated. It was the biggest rush of excitement he'd ever felt in his life, on or off stage, and he nearly drove the others to distraction that night with his inability to sleep.

They were scheduled to play the next day as well, but flew home to London instead. The entire gig had been a complete disaster, and they were all feeling quite low. But Freddie was not to be deterred. "When we come back to Australia, Queen will be the biggest band in the world!" he declared. And it would turn out to be true. When they returned to Australia in 1976, they were indeed well on their way. Besides, nothing could bring him down at the moment. He was about to meet his son.

As soon as they landed at Heathrow and cleared immigration and customs, Freddie was off to the hospital, his exhaustion buoyed by elation. He arrived with a bouquet of flowers for Mary, though she already had so many. When he came in the door, Mary was sat up in bed in a halo of light coming in through the window, holding Little Freddie. And he thought she had never looked more beautiful.

"Mary!" He rushed over to give her a kiss on the cheek.

"Hello, darling," Mary said, returning his kiss. 

Freddie looked down at the baby in her arms. "Can-can I hold him?" he asked.

"Well, of course you can, Freddie!" Mary told him. "He's yours too, you know." And she handed Little Freddie to him.

"Oh, he's so tiny!" Freddie said, touching the little ears and fingers that gripped his own. 

"For now," Mary said. "But he'll be growing up before we know it."

When he saw those two little black eyes staring back into his own, he felt a love he didn't even know he'd been searching for, and he knew that no matter what else happened in his life, this was the most important thing he'd ever done.

*******

Freddie stayed right by their side, only going home to shower and feed the cats. In a few days, Mary and Little Freddie were released from the hospital and the three of them came home to begin their new life together in their Kensington flat.

The next nine weeks proved to be nearly as life changing as the birth of their son. Queen appeared on BBC's _Top Of The Pops_ to mime their new single _'Seven Seas of Rhye'_ , which went straight into the charts at # 45. Freddie and Roger finally left their Kensington market stall, and the band began their first headlining tour of the UK. A week later, their second album _Queen II_ was released, making it to #35. The UK tour culminated with their performance at London's Rainbow Theatre, and a short two weeks after that, Freddie, hiding the tears in his eyes, kissed Mary and Little Freddie goodbye as Queen left for their first tour of The States, once again opening for Mott The Hoople.

And soon it was just as Freddie had always feared. He was always away from home touring, and missing out on all those special little moments - like Little Freddie saying his first word and taking his first steps.

Once, when Little Freddie was about a year old, he and Mary had been watching telly, when Freddie appeared on the screen.

"Da-da?" Little Freddie said, pointing his little finger.

"Yes, that's your Daddy, honey," Mary smiled.

Little Freddie toddled over, planting a slobbery baby kiss on the screen, and Mary's heart squeezed.

But Freddie made sure Mary and Little Freddie were always well taken care of, and on the rare occasions when he wasn't away on tour or working in the studio, he spent every moment he could with them. 

And even during the saddest time of their lives, when Freddie came out to Mary about his sexuality and their relationship ended (Little Freddie had been two-years-old at the time), still their love continued on, just in a different way. When he bought Garden Lodge in Kensington, he bought her a house just next door. And he and Mary made the arrangement that when he was home, she would have Little Freddie one week and he would have him the next.

At first Mary had been concerned about Freddie's ability to handle things on his own. Even his sister Kash had her reservations. He was very good at spoiling you, but not so good when it came to laying down the law. But Freddie took to fatherhood like a duck to water - bath time, bedtime stories, even his own change bag filled with nappies, wipes, bibs, beakers (sippy cups), and Cheerios, which he kept slung over his shoulder, even if it wasn't befitting of the world famous rock star he'd now become. He was a wonderful father - gentle, caring, loving, but stern when he needed to be. And Freddie soon hired two assistants - Joe "Liza" Fanelli, a professional gourmet chef, and Peter "Phoebe" Freestone, who had previously worked in the Royal Ballet's wardrobe department, who grew to love Little Freddie as if he were their own.

Time passed, and in October 1979, Mary and Freddie decided to give five-year-old Little Freddie a sibling. Kashmira Melina Mercury was born nine months later on June 30, 1980, coincidentally on the first day of Queen's _The Game_ tour.

"Hey," Brian said, addressing the audience after _Rock It (Prime Jive)_. "I don't know if you all have seen the papers yet, but Freddie's had a daughter born to him today." The audience went wild. "Kashmira, darling, this is for you. It's called _Love of My Life_."

And when Freddie returned home and held her in his arms for the first time, he couldn't help but quip, "Freddie Mercury - good at making music, even better at making beautiful babies." And he laughed.

So, Little Freddie and Kashmira grew up happy and healthy with two parents and a whole host of family and friends who loved them both dearly...

***BONUS* Here are some pictures of Freddie and Roger (Mary is also in some of them) when they were working at their clothing stall in Kensington.**

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	3. Terms & Conditions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Formation of the band The Sons of Queen

"Well, Mum, I'd better be going."

Mary was suddenly snapped back to the present. "So soon?" She took a sip of her tea which had now gone cold.

"Yeah, Felix wants me to meet him for drinks to talk about the album, and then I have to be getting home to Mary." Little Freddie gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Bye, Mum. I love you. I'll see you again soon."

"I love you, too, darling. Take care of yourself and Mary. And don't work too hard," his mother told him, returning his kiss.

"Alright, Mum. Say hello to Kash and the boys for me," he said, meaning his two little step-brothers, Richard and Jamie. "I'll see you later."

*******

He was to meet Felix down at the Copacabana Club in Earls Court Road. He stood looking around for him when suddenly he heard a sharp whistle. Turning in the direction of the sound he saw Felix sat at a table in a secluded corner nearby.

"Freddie! Over here, mate!" Felix waved him over. He joined Felix at the table, and a waiter came over to take their order.

"Good evening, gentlemen," he greeted them. "What's your pleasure?"

"Vodka tonic. Stoli and Schweppes. On the rocks," Little Freddie told him.

"Just a lager for me, mate. Thanks," Felix said.

"Well, I guess once we're done with the recording we can talk to our dads and Mack about the mixing and mastering," Little Freddie said, once their drinks had arrived. "But I'm still not completely happy with the vocals on-"

"Yeah, yeah, mate. Let's not talk work, huh?" Felix drank long and deep from his lager.

"I thought that's what you invited me here for," Little Freddie said with a halfway laugh.

"Nah, mate. That was just an excuse to get you to come here. I just wanted us to have some time alone together to relax. Just the two of us. We don't hardly get to do that anymore, you know," Felix told him.

Little Freddie reached over and gently placed his hand on Felix's. "Well, I think we're alone now, darling," he said, affecting a camp voice.

"Oh, bloody hell, Freddie! You know that's not what I meant!" Felix shouted, and they both burst out laughing. "Anyway…," he said. "I guess the two of us have been in this thing together since the beginning."

"Yeah," Little Freddie said with a chuckle.

"How old were we when we started the band? I was like sixteen and you were what? Fourteen?" Felix asked.

"Something like that," Little Freddie agreed, taking a sip of his drink.

"It was on Robert's thirteenth birthday, remember? Because we were talking about it at his birthday party," Felix said.

"That's right!" Little Freddie said with a grin.

"God, we thought we were such little bad arses back then," Felix laughed. And on this night of many memories, I seemed it was his and Little Freddie's turn to remember…

*******

**July 18, 1988 - Garden Lodge, Kensington, London, England**

Freddie, Jim, Joe, Mary, and Phoebe were all sat eating dinner together at the dining room table, when suddenly they heard the front door open.

"Freddie, darling, is that you?" Mary called.

There was no answer but a moment later Little Freddie appeared in the doorway.

"How was the birthday party?" Mary asked. He'd just returned from Robert Deacon's thirteenth birthday party at his parents' home in Putney.

Little Freddie came over, leaning on his hands on the table. "Dad, Mum, Papa Jim, I have something to tell you," he said. "I've joined a band."

"Have you? And what band would that be pray tell?" His mother asked.

"It was Felix's idea really," Little Freddie said. "He's the drummer, of course, and he asked me to be lead singer and play the piano. Jimmy and Robert are going to be in it too, playing guitar and bass. We're calling ourselves The Sons of Queen."

The adults tried not to laugh, picturing the four boys surrounded by balloons, eating cake and ice cream, and drinking punch as they discussed the "tough" business of starting a rock n' roll band.

"The Sons of Queen? Well, that's a good name," Freddie said encouragingly, and Jim, Phoebe, and Joe all agreed.

Mary, however, was rummaging around in her handbag. "I suppose I knew this day would be coming soon. Ah! Here it is!" She pulled a piece of paper and a pen from her bag, then turned back to Little Freddie. "Sit down, Mr. Mercury. Let's talk business. We'll go over the terms and conditions first."

"What do you mean?" Little Freddie asked.

"For your continued employment with the band," his mother told him. "Now, was it _Sons of Queen_ or _The Sons of Queen_?"

"Er, _The Sons of Queen_ ," Little Freddie said, watching as his mother wrote the name at the top of the paper.

"Here you are," she smiled, handing him the piece of paper when she'd finished. "I'm sure you'll want to take a few minutes to look things over before signing."

Little Freddie sat down slowly, a puzzled look on his face as he studied the piece of paper in his hands. His mother had drawn up what appeared to be a contract. It read:

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Terms and Conditions**

One, Freddie Bomi Mercury's continued employment with _The Sons of Queen_ shall be contingent upon the following stipulations:

1\. All gigs must have parental approval.

2\. A parent must know where you are, who you are with, and what you are doing at all times.

3\. All schoolwork and household chores must be completed daily before any band practices or rehearsals may take place.

4\. Curfew is 09:30 P.M. on school nights (Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday) and 12:00 A.M. on Saturdays.

5\. No drinking, smoking, drug use, or other illicit activities of any kind.

6\. No gigs on school nights (Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday)

7\. No professional gigs before the age of 18.

8\. No swearing or use of obscene gestures.

9\. Obedience to parents, teachers, and others in positions of authority at all times.

10\. Respect for self and others (classmates, parents, teachers, etc.) at all times.

11\. Schoolwork and examination marks shall not fall below a B at any time.

Failure to comply with any of the above stipulations may result in disciplinary action including but not limited to: assignment of extra chores, being placed on restriction/punishment (grounded), loss of privileges, and/or immediate and permanent removal from the band.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And at the bottom there were three places to sign and date.

"What?! You're making me sign a contract?!" Little Freddie protested at once. He turned to his father. "Dad!"

"She's the boss," Freddie told him simply. He wasn't about to get on Mary's bad side.

"But that's not fair! It's Felix's band and-"

"A band that I suppose that will have to do without you as its lead singer," Mary said. "What a shame. And to think The Sons of Queen had such a promising future ahead of them, too."

"Mm," Freddie agreed, taking a sip of his drink when she looked his way.

"Oh well," she sighed, reaching across the table to take back the contract.

"Wait!" Little Freddie cried putting his hand on the paper. "If I sign it, I can be in the band?"

"Providing you follow the stipulations of course," Mary told him.

"Ugh, alright fine. I'll sign it then." Little Freddie took the pen and signed his name - Freddie Bomi Mercury 18/07/1998. "There," he said, handing the paper back to his mother. She signed it and then handed it to Freddie to sign as well. Then she took her pen, making an extra signature and date line. Jim was quite surprised and touched, when she passed the paper to him to sign also.

"You're just as much a part of this as we are," she told him with a gentle smile. "There now. Everything seems to be in order," she said, once Jim had finished signing. She held her hand out to Little Freddie. "Congratulations, Mr. Mercury. It's been a pleasure doing business with you. And good luck. I wish you and your band all the best."

Little Freddie shook her hand, then trooped off to his room.

The others sat there in stunned silence.

"How long exactly have you had that?" Freddie asked Mary, indicating the contract.

"Oh, since he was about two," she answered with a nonchalant shrug of her shoulders, placing the paper back in her bag.

*******

Little Freddie decided to say nothing about the contract to the others, mainly because it was embarrassing that his mother had made him sign the thing, but also because he worried that if Felix saw all the "stipulations" as his mother called them, he might decide it was too much trouble keeping Little Freddie in the band. His mother had given him a copy and insisted he fold it up and place it in the wallet he carried now, where he could easily refer back to it if need be. So with a groan, he'd done as he was told.

Before long, The Sons of Queen were rehearsing for their first gig. Felix's mother had arranged for them to play at their school's summer dance. The boys attended Eton - London's top elite independent (private) school for boys, but went there as day pupils instead of boarders, something Freddie had absolutely insisted on, and the school had agreed as they very much wanted Freddie and the others' money, and the prestige of having their sons attend the school. Although school wasn't currently in session, the term having ended, the school always held a dance every year during the middle of the summer holiday, unofficially known as The Summer Ball. It was held jointly with pupils from The Benenden School - another of London's top elite independent boarding schools, but for girls.

"Well, since it's going to be a ball-" Little Freddie said, stepping up to the mic (they had all their equipment set up in Felix's garage), "-how about this."

_I'm upper, upper class high society_   
_God's gift to ballroom notoriety_   
_And I always fill my ballroom_   
_The event is never small_   
_All the social papers say I've got the biggest balls of all_

_I've got big balls_   
_I've got big balls_   
_And they're such big balls_   
_Dirty big balls_   
_And he's got big balls,_   
_And she's got big balls,_   
_But we've got the biggest balls of them all!_

They all burst out laughing. It was AC/DC's hilarious yet dirty double-entendre song _[Big Balls](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPlqLHcphyw)._

"Or this." Aerosmith's [Big Ten Inch](https://youtu.be/ORiUxFT2fqo).

_Got me the strangest woman_   
_Believe me this trick's no cinch_   
_But I really get her going_   
_When I whip out my big ten inch..._

_Record of a band that plays the blues_   
_Well a band that plays its blues_   
_She just love my big ten inch..._   
_Record of her favorite blues-_

"Freddie," his father said, giving him a look as he, Jim, Roger, and John walked in - having come to see their sons' first rehearsal. Jim was especially excited, he always enjoyed watching Freddie and the others working in the studio, and now he was getting to experience the same thing with Little Freddie and his band. It was almost like getting to go back in the past and see what Freddie and the others must have been like at that age.

"So, what kind of songs do The Sons of Queen play?" Freddie asked.

"Rock n' roll - all kinds. But not Queen covers!" Little Freddie was quick to point out. "We don't want people thinking we're a Queen tribute band, because we're not!"

"Of course not!" Freddie said. "I mean who in their right mind would think that a band called The Sons of Queen would be a Queen tribute band? Not me." He winked at Jim.

"Me either," Jim agreed with a grin.

"No," John said, amused.

"Never," Roger added, hiding a laugh.

"Where's Brian?" Freddie asked in a low voice.

"He couldn't make it. I think he and Chrissie are having some issues," Roger answered back. 

"Oh." They all looked with sympathy at Jimmy who stood glumly with his guitar nearby.

Then the boys began practicing their set proper that they'd come up with. They'd been allotted time for eight songs:

1\. [Born On The Bayou](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f775c_KgXE0) \- Creedence Clearwater Revival ("I mean, who knows what a _bayou_ is," Felix said. "But it sounds good.")

2\. [(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrIPxlFzDi0) \- The Rolling Stones

3\. [It's A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock 'N' Roll)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sUXMzkh-jI) \- AC/DC

4̶.̶ ̶[N̶o̶t̶h̶i̶n̶'̶ ̶T̶o̶ ̶L̶o̶s̶e̶](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iPDaoBn9Dk) ̶-̶ ̶K̶i̶s̶s̶ (Felix had picked it to showcase his drumming talents. "Absolutely not, Felix," Roger told him. "That's not appropriate for a school dance and you know why.")

4\. [Old Time Rock & Roll](https://youtu.be/W1LsRShUPtY) \- Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band

5\. [Play That Funky Music](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDZsNksbw2Q) \- Wild Cherry

6\. [Superstition](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CFuCYNx-1g) \- Stevie Wonder (With Robert really slaying that bass. Funky for days!)

7\. [Takin' Care of Business](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCIUf8eYPqA) \- Bachman–Turner Overdrive

8\. [Twist and Shout](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RicaUqd9Hg) \- The Beatles

And if it hadn't been apparent before, it was clear now that the boys had inherited their fathers' musical talent. Freddie, Jim, Roger, and John were sure to lavish a little extra praise on Jimmy since Brian couldn't be there. He'd learnt to play using a sixpence serrated coin instead of a pick, just like his father. Doing it that way produced a unique sound - one of the most coveted tones of all time for aspiring and professional guitarists alike. 

"They're good. And I'm not just saying that because they're our sons or whatever," Freddie told the others. "In three or four years' time, the record companies will all be trying to snap them up." But they knew there was a big difference between singing in your garage and performing live on stage in front of an audience.

The boys practiced hard for a full week solid, until the long for awaited night finally arrived. They'd gotten to the school early to set their equipment up on the make-shift stage in the gymnasium. Roger had brought Felix and Jimmy, as Brian was once again nowhere to be seen. Then they waited in the backstage area (a.k.a. the boys' locker room) as their classmates filed in. Freddie could tell they were nervous, this being their first gig after all. So he did his best to set their minds at ease.

"Listen," he said. "I won't tell you not to be nervous. It's alright to be nervous. But just remember the most important thing is to be happy with what you're doing, whatever that may be. If you're happy, it'll show in your work. So go out there and work hard, but don't forget to have a good time. Have fun. It's rock n' roll!"

"Besides, you boys are going to do great," Roger told them.

"That's right," John smiled.

Jim thought of something he could say too to encourage them. "You boys are good," he said. "They're gonna go wild for you out there. I know it."

Little Freddie gave him a smile. "Thanks, Papa Jim."

Then it was time for Freddie, Jim, Roger, and John to take their seats. But obviously they couldn't just sit out in the audience like normal people - they'd be overrun by fans wanting their autographs and to take pictures with them. And Freddie and the others certainly didn't want that - this night was supposed to be all about the boys. As it was, the school was already having to check people at the door - only students of the two schools and their parents were allowed in. So instead, Freddie and the others were taken to the coach's office above the gym, where they had a perfect view of the stage. And they should be able to hear the music alright through the thin Plexiglas windows.

"Oh, this is quite nice," Freddie grinned. "It's like having a box at the opera!"

In a little while, Little Freddie and the others were given their cue, and waited at the entrance to the locker room as a man from the school introduced them.

"And now it gives me great pleasure to introduce to you a band formed by some of our very own native sons here at Eton. I think you all know who I'm talking about - The Sons of Queen!"

They came on stage to cheers and applause from the audience. Felix sat down behind the drums and Jimmy and Robert took their places. Little Freddie walked up to the mic.

"H-hello," he addressed the audience timidly. He swallowed hard. "H-how ARE YOU DOIN', HUH?! ARE YOU READY TO ROCK N' ROLL?! ARE WE GONNA MAKE A NOISE?! A BIG NOISE?! OK, LET'S DO IT!"

The crowd shouted its approval. Little Freddie turned slightly giving a nod to Felix and the others, and The Sons of Queen began their set proper. Before the first note was ever played, they had the audience in the palm of their hand. They poured all of their energy into the music - Little Freddie singing the songs with as much emotion and expressiveness as he could, until for a moment it was almost possible to forget they were just singing cover songs. Freddie, Jim, Brian, Roger, and John watched from their places, their chests swelling with pride. Brian had arrived, just before The Sons of Queen had taken the stage.

"You know how it is - London traffic," he said, but that didn't explain away the dark circles beneath his eyes.

About half-way through the set Little Freddie stopped to take requests.

"Bohemian Rhapsody!" a boy up front shouted.

"Sorry, mate. We don't do Queen covers. I should have said that before," Little Freddie apologized. "Any others?" There didn't seem to be any others for now, so they continued on with their set, at the end of which the crowd went crazy, begging for more.

"Play Another One Bites The Dust, Freddie," a pretty girl with braces and long brown hair said from the foot of the stage, giving him a smile.

Little Freddie looked over his shoulder at Felix, who just rolled his eyes and began the beat. Jimmy and Robert joined in and they played the song as their "encore" as it were.

"Freddie! Freddie! Freddie!" the audience chanted his name wildly when they'd finished the song. It had certainly been the rockingest show Eton had ever seen in its time.

Little Freddie had the biggest smile on his face, as he stood there trying to catch his breath, swiping with a forearm at the sweat running down his forehead from his hair.

And Freddie knew he must be experiencing his first taste of the high that he himself felt when performing on stage. When everything went down well, and the audience were into it, the feeling was like nothing else in this world. The best way he could think to describe it would be the rush you get in your chest and stomach when going downhill on a rollercoaster. Sometimes it felt so good, it was almost like an out of body experience. And Freddie could tell now, just from the look on his son's face - he was hooked.

"So what happened?" Freddie asked Little Freddie after the concert, putting his arm around his shoulders as they walked back out to where Freddie's driver, Terry, waited with the car. "I thought you didn't do Queen covers."

"Well…," Little Freddie said, and Freddie just laughed.

*******

So the Sons of Queen carried on this way for about another year and a half, with one of their mums or dads arranging for them to play little gigs at other schools, clubs, church halls and city halls, youth centres and community centres, casinos, ballrooms, pavilions, hotels, skating rinks, etc. The only thing that changed really was their setlist the next year:

1\. [Black Dog](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBuub4Xe1mw) \- Led Zeppelin

2\. [Dream On](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9srmft6STc) \- Aerosmith

3\. [Fame](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-_30HA7rec) \- David Bowie

4\. [Hotel California](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcmjDPDOk7c) \- The Eagles

5\. [Life's Been Good](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXWvKDSwvls) \- Joe Walsh

6\. [Life In The Fast Lane](https://vimeo.com/171360060) \- The Eagles

7\. [Take It To The Limit](https://youtu.be/tJkW0Clsvrk) \- The Eagles

8\. [Turn The Page](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3khH9ih2XJg) \- Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band

9\. [Stairway To Heaven](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nnu1E5Kslig) \- Led Zeppelin

That was until Little Freddie turned sixteen, however, and fell in love...


	4. You're My Best Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Complete tooth-rotting fluff: Little Freddie falls in love. Hallmark give me a call! lol 😂

"You want some of this, mate?" Felix asked, his mouth full of roast, which went nicely with his lager.

"No, thanks," Little Freddie told him. "I've really got to be getting home to Mary soon."

"I remember when the two of you first met," Felix grinned. "It was at that party at Adam Castledine's house in Leicester. His dad knew Robert's dad. I think they used to play in a band together when they were kids - _The Opposition,_ or something like that. Adam was showing off his motorcycles and shit, trying to impress that girl Jenny or whatever. 'Cause his dad owned that scooter shop over on Humberstone Road, you know. Huh. I was more interested in his sister, Vanessa," he laughed.

Little Freddie couldn't help but smile, thinking back on it…

*******

**February 1990 - Leicester, England**

By the time Little Freddie was sixteen, their setlist had changed yet again:

1\. [(Bang A Gong) Get It On](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzACZW65rpE) \- T. Rex

2\. [Beast Of Burden](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlV-ZFyVH3c) \- The Rolling Stones

3\. [I Hate Myself For Loving You](https://youtu.be/KjrWw0h1qeo) \- Joan Jett & The Blackhearts

4\. [I Heard It Through The Grapevine](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixqofv-Oi74) \- Creedence Clearwater Revival

5\. [Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1l0xpkk0yaQ) \- The Hollies

6\. [Lyin' Eyes](https://youtu.be/2PTEqZURh4o) \- The Eagles

7\. [Miss You](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuRxXRuAz-I) \- The Rolling Stones

8\. [Night Moves](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mRFWQoXq4c) \- Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band

9\. [Seven Bridges Road](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hufU6MIS2vw) \- The Eagles

10\. [Take It On The Run](https://youtu.be/lAovdZ7WmF8) \- REO Speedwagon

It was Saturday night. They'd just finished playing at Adam Castledine's party, and were packing up their equipment for their second gig of the night - another school dance (but not at their school). When that one ended it would be pushing Little Freddie's midnight curfew, something he still hadn't told the others about even after all this time. Thankfully there hadn't been a need to so far, as their gigs didn't run that late. But he still had that damn contract folded up in his wallet. _Ugh._ Luckily he'd somehow managed not to run afoul of _the law,_ as it were. Or leastways not get caught...yet. He'd just turned around to pick something up, when he noticed a girl standing there behind him. And God was she beautiful! Long, blonde hair, green eyes, a cute face, and a sweet smile. Suddenly he realized she was speaking to him.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?"

She gave a shy laugh. "I said, 'Is it true? Are you really-"

 _Oh, God. Here we go again,_ Little Freddie thought to himself. There were plenty of girls now - for all of them. But they always seemed to ask him the same question: _Are you really Freddie Mercury's son?_ They didn't care who Little Freddie was, not really. They just all had the hots for his dad, or probably his dad's money more like. It was absolutely maddening. And he was determined he'd never date a girl who asked him that. 

"-lead singer of the band?'" The girl finished.

Little Freddie was taken aback for a moment. "Er, yeah, that's right. We call ourselves _The Sons of Queen,_ you know, after our dads' band," he told her, testing her perhaps.

The girl gave a small gasp. "What? Your dad's in a band, too?" she asked. "Wow! That's so cool."

Little Freddie chuckled softly. _Was this girl serious? She didn't know who Queen were?_ Suddenly Felix came up behind him, clapping him on the shoulder.

"Everything's packed up and ready for the second gig, mate," he told him. "Adam just wants to show me his motorcycles for a minute. Shouldn't be long."

"Yeah, alright," Little Freddie nodded his head as Felix walked away.

"You've got a second gig?" the girl asked.

"Uh, yeah," Little Freddie answered. "It's a school dance. Not at the school I go to though. I go to Eton. How about you? Benenden?" he hazarded a guess.

"Oh, no. It's the state (public) schools for me, I'm afraid," the girl answered with a laugh. "I shouldn't keep you. My name's Mary by the way. Mary Smith."

"That's my mother's name," he'd said, brushing a strand of hair away from her face without realizing what he was doing. He dropped his hand suddenly and they both laughed. "My name's Freddie. Freddie Mercury," he told her.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Freddie Mercury," she smiled, holding out her hand to him, still without any sign that she knew who he or his father were. Little Freddie shook her hand and then she turned to leave.

"Wait!" he said. "I hope this isn't too forward of me but, erm, I was wondering if I could maybe get your number? Only if you want to give it to me - that is!" he added hastily.

"Sure," she said. "But I haven't anything to write with."

"Oh!" Little Freddie looked around quickly and found a pen. _But paper! Where was a piece of paper?_ He ripped off the setlist that was taped to one of the amps, and turned it over to the back. "Here you are."

Mary wrote down her number on the paper and handed it to Little Freddie. He tore off another small piece, writing his number down as well, and gave it to her. 

"Maybe we could hang out together sometime. Maybe tomorrow?" he asked hopefully.

"You don't have any gigs tomorrow?" Mary asked.

"No, we don't usually do gigs on Sunday," Little Freddie explained. "I go to church with my mum, and then we have Sunday dinner with my dad and my Papa Jim. But, after that I'm a free man! I could come over to your house, or you could come over to mine. A-and then maybe we could go to a movie or something. I mean, if your parents say it's ok, you know."

"That sounds great," Mary smiled.

*******

The next day after Sunday dinner, Little Freddie called Mary to invite her over.

"There's just one little thing-" Mary said with a small, nervous laugh. "Um, could my mum speak to your mum over the phone? She just wants to make sure everything is safe for me to come over."

"Oh yeah, sure!" Little Freddie said. "One minute." He put the phone down and went to fetch his mother. "Mum! Mum!" He found her in the kitchen. "Mum, I've got Mary on the phone and her mum wants to speak to you, to make sure everything is safe for her to come over." He'd already told his mum all about Mary, and she'd given her blessing for her to come over.

"Of course!" his mother said. Following him out into the front hallway, she picked up the phone. "Hello, this is Mary Austin, Freddie's mum…"

Little Freddie waited on bated breath.

"...Yes, that's right, he just turned sixteen, too...Mm-hmm, I assure you there's always an adult present - either me or his dad or his, erm, step-father, Jim. He's also got a nine-year-old sister who lives here. Her name's Kashmira. And a baby brother due next month," Mary said, placing a hand on her stomach. She was eight months pregnant with her then painter boyfriend, Piers Cameron. "...Right, well as far as their date goes, I think they're just going to go to see a movie. Isn't that right, darling?" Mary turned to ask Little Freddie.

"Oh, yes, mum. That's right," he told her.

"And of course we'll bring her home," Mary said. After that it seemed like his mum and Mary's mum really hit it off - talking and laughing over the phone, so much so that Little Freddie and Mary both began to wonder if they were ever going to get off.

"Mum!" they both said at the same time to their mothers.

Mary laughed. "Well I suppose I'd better get off and let them finish up their plans…We live in Kensington - 1 Logan Place, near Earl's Court...It's been lovely talking with you, Olivia. I'm sure Mary's a wonderful girl, and we're all very excited to meet her...Alright, then. See you both soon. Goodbye." She handed the phone back to Little Freddie. "Here you are, darling."

"What did your mum say?" Little Freddie just had to ask into the receiver, though he already knew Mary's mum had said yes, from what he'd just heard his own mum say.

"She said yes, so I'll see you soon," Mary said, smiling to herself.

"Alright, see you soon," Little Freddie said, also smiling. He hung up the phone and punched a fist in the air. "Yes!" Then he turned to his mother. "Thank you, mum! Thank you!" He hugged her (carefully), giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"You're welcome, darling," she said with a laugh, returning his kiss.

*******

About twenty minutes later, Mary and her mother pulled up outside the front gate.

"Oh, look, Mum, there's Freddie!" She gave her mum a kiss on the cheek. "Bye, Mum. Love you. See you later." She got out of the car, her handbag slung over her shoulder, and walked towards the gate. "Hi, Freddie!" she called, then turned to wave goodbye to her mother as she drove away. "Bye!"

"Hey," Freddie said, trying to act supremely cool. Once she was beside him, he turned to open the gate, but then stopped and turned to her. "Mary…," he said. "There's something I need to tell you."

"Ok." She smiled.

"You know how last night I was telling you my dad's in a band?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Well, my dad's Freddie Mercury."

"Oh, you're named after your dad? That's so neat!"

"Er, yeah. But I mean he's _The_ Freddie Mercury."

Mary just continued looking at him.

"You know - of the rock band _Queen._ That's why we call ourselves _The Sons of Queen,_ you see."

"Oh, well, my parents don't really like me to listen to rock music," Mary told him, casting her eyes down self-consciously. "Even though it's the '90s they still think it's like the devil's music or something." She laughed. "But I'm just crazy about Elvis, and the Beatles, and the Beach Boys."

"Er, right…," Little Freddie chuckled as he opened the front gate and held it for her.

"And just so YOU know," Mary said, before going through. "My dad is Harry Smith. _The_ Harry Smith of High Street and Church Road in Wimbledon. So I'd say that makes us even, wouldn't you?" She grinned.

Little Freddie smiled, laughing to himself. _This girl was perfect._

He closed the gate and led her in through the garden.

"Oh, my goodness, Freddie. It's beautiful!" Mary gasped.

"Thank you. My Papa Jim does all of this. He's really into gardening," Little Freddie told her. "Er, that's another thing I was going to tell you. You see, I have two dads - my real dad and then Papa Jim."

"Is he your mum's husband?" Mary asked.

"Er, no - my dad's." Little Freddie looked up to see what her reaction would be.

"Oh!" Mary said. "Well, I think that's just wonderful, Freddie. I can't wait to meet them - both your dads."

He gave her a smile and they continued on to the front door.

"This is actually my dad's house. He, and Papa Jim, and Phoebe - my dad's personal assistant, and Liza - my dad's chef, all live here. Don't be fooled by the nicknames. Phoebe and Liza are both guys," he laughed. "Their real names are Peter and Joe. And my mum lives just next door. But she's here right now, don't worry." He opened the door and they came inside. Then he turned and closed the door behind them, and they made their way towards the sitting room. That's when his own stomach began to squeeze with nervousness. _Please don't let her think my dad is hot. Please don't let her think my dad is hot. Please don't let her think my dad is hot,_ he silently prayed. Luckily today his dad was just dressed casually in his yellow tracksuit and trainers, so maybe there was still a chance. When they arrived at the sitting room, his mother already had afternoon tea laid out for them - Earl Grey tea, cucumber sandwiches, and Victoria sponge all the way. Mary offered her hand as Little Freddie introduced her to everyone - his mum, dad, Jim, Phoebe, Joe, and Kashmira, who were all delighted to meet her.

"Are you Freddie's girlfriend?" Kashmira asked.

"Kashmira!" her mother scolded.

"Well, we're friends. And I am a girl. So I suppose so," Mary told her, winning a smile.

Then to Little Freddie's mortification, that's when his father started in.

"So, Mary," Freddie said. "What exactly are your intentions toward my son?"

"Dad!" Little Freddie hissed.

"Freddie, don't tease," his mother said, slapping his father playfully on the arm.

Mary, however, didn't seem fazed in the slightest. "Oh, I assure you, Mr. Mercury, my intentions toward your son are completely honorable - well, mostly," she grinned.

Freddie burst out laughing. After that, every joke his father threw at her, Mary always had a witty comeback, making Little Freddie all the more infatuated.

"Would you believe it?" Little Freddie said. "Mary's never even heard of _Queen._ "

"Never heard of _Queen_?" Freddie gasped.

"My parents don't really like me to listen to rock music," Mary explained again.

"Hmm. Well, we're going to have to do something about that, aren't we, darling?" Freddie told her.

After tea, Freddie and Mary prepared to leave to go on their date. 

"Watch out for Freddie, Mary. He's a bad, bad boy," Freddie said with a wink. "Just be sure to have him back by nine-thirty." 

Little Freddie groaned at his father's joke. He and Mary were going to walk down to one of the movie theatres at Earl's Court, about a ten minute walk from Garden Lodge, but Freddie intervened.

"No, now, Freddie, go ahead and take the car. Terry can drive you," he said. So, Little Freddie didn't argue. They said their goodbyes and his father's driver, Terry, drove them down to Earl's Court, and parked near the movie theatre.

"So, what would you like to see?" Little Freddie asked Mary when they came up to the ticket counter. Mary said she wanted to see _Steel Magnolias,_ a highly rated movie that had just come out in theatres that month in London. Little Freddie was pretty sure it was a chick-flick, you know, but whatever. He was just happy to be with Mary. He paid for their two tickets, a tub of popcorn, and two Cokes, all with his own money he'd been saving up from gigs. During the movie, Little Freddie steeled himself, took a chance, and reached over to hold Mary's hand. Mary looked over at him and smiled, squeezing his hand back.

Since it was an unseasonably warm, sunny February day, after the movie Little Freddie asked Mary if she would like to go for a walk in the park. She said yes of course. So Terry drove them to Hyde Park. Little Freddie bought them two lemonades, and they strolled through the park for about an hour, holding hands.

"My dad and his band played one of their biggest concerts here back in the '70s," Little Freddie commented as they walked along.

After that Little Freddie took Mary home, as he absolutely insisted she get home before dark. They stood awkwardly on her front stoop together.

"I had a lovely time today, Freddie," Mary said.

"Me too," Little Freddie told her. "Maybe we could do it again sometime."

"I'd really like that," Mary said. They stood there silently for a few more beats, then she turned to go inside. "Well...good night."

"Mary, wait!" Little Freddie stopped her, and she turned back around. "Er...I know this may be sort of a strange question but, erm...What did you think of my dad? You didn't think he was like hot or anything, did you?" He scuffed bashfully at the floor with the toe of his shoe, hands in his pockets.

Mary just laughed. "I think _you're_ hot, Freddie," she smiled.

"You-you do?" Little Freddie felt his heartbeat grow faster.

"Yeah." Then Mary reached up and gave him a peck on the cheek. "Good night," she grinned, before going inside.

Little Freddie felt like his heart was going to literally burst. _Be cool, Freddie. Be cool,_ he thought to himself as he walked back out to the car. But once he was inside, he couldn't help but shout, "Yes!" Terry looked into the rearview mirror and smiled.

*******

The next Sunday Little Freddie and Mary went bicycling. And the Sunday after that they went to the zoo. They soon became inseparable and were spending every spare moment they had together, growing closer with each passing day.

"You be nice to that girl," Freddie told him once, pointing his finger at him. "You know what I mean. She's a keeper."

"I will, Dad," Little Freddie promised. 

But that didn't stop him from trying a few months later after they were past the "just holding hands" phase. It was one night in the backseat of Felix's car, while Felix and his newest girlfriend were snogging in the front seat.

"Freddie, we can't," Mary stopped him gently with a hand on his chest.

"Why not?" he asked. "I can get a condom from Felix."

"That's not it," she said. "I just want us to wait a little while longer, until we're both at least eighteen."

"But why?" Little Freddie asked again. "You know I love you, and we'll always be together, just like we promised each other."

"Because it's the right thing to do," Mary told him. And because he loved Mary dearly, Little Freddie was willing to wait. He'd do anything for Mary. _The price of having a good girl,_ he supposed. But he went as far as she would let him without actually having sex or removing any clothing - her rules.

And so, life went on, another year passing by until Little Freddie turned seventeen, and his and The Sons of Queen's year of teenage rebellion began.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *WARNING* there's going to be the parental spanking of a teenager (not abusive) in the next chapter, so if that's not your thing or if it's going to bother you, then you may not want to read ahead. But there will also be some fluff afterwards to make up for it.


	5. Son Of A Bitch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Little Freddie and Felix have a bromance 🤣 Little Freddie also learns a couple of hard lessons after Freddie has to show him some tough love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *WARNING* there's going to be the parental spanking of a teenager (not abusive) in this chapter, so if that's not your thing or if it's going to bother you, then you may not want to read ahead. But there will also be some fluff afterwards to make up for it.

"Give me your keys," Little Freddie said to a, by now, very pissed (drunk) Felix. "Come on, give them here." But Felix held back.

"I'm fine, mate," he hiccupped. "I can drive myself."

 _Like fuck you can_ , Little Freddie thought to himself. "Alright then, how many fingers am I holding up?" He held up one finger in front of Felix's face.

Felix paused, his brow furrowed in concentration. "Three?" Little Freddie just shook his head.

"Say your ABCs."

"A B C…," Felix began but then stopped. "I don't know the words after that. Fuck it!"

"Last chance," Little Freddie told him. "Let's see you stand up and walk a straight line." Felix struggled to his feet, stumbling, and would have fallen if Little Freddie hadn’t caught his arm. “Whoa there!" He held his hand out to Felix. "Keys."

"Alright, _mum_ ," Felix grumped petulantly, handing him the keys. Little Freddie cocked his head, giving him an amused look that said, _now was that really necessary?_

"Come on, let's get you home. Mary and I'll come back for your car," he said. First they stopped off at the bank of payphones along one wall, so Little Freddie could call Mary. He picked up the receiver, deposited his money, and dialed the number, preparing himself for Mary's wrath. But it wasn't an easy task trying to talk on the phone and hold Felix up at the same time. "Hullo, Mary, darling? It's me, Freddie. - Oh, uh, Felix says hullo, too - Listen, darling, I know it's late, and I know I promised I'd be home long before now, but, uh - STOP IT! - No, not you, darling! I was talking to Felix. Yes, you see he's gone and got himself a bit, well, sloshed here in the pub and he can't drive himself - No you can't! - He can't drive himself home, so I'm going to take him home and then I thought maybe you and I could come back and pick up his car. I don't think it's a good idea to leave it here unattended all night...Right. Yes, darling, and I'm so sorry. I should have called earlier..."

"Whipped," Felix slurred, hiccupping again, a teasing grin on his face.

"...Alright, darling, thank you. I will…I'll see you in a little while then...I love you, too...Okay, goodbye, darling. Bye." _Whew! Well, that could have gone worse!_ Little Freddie was once again thankful that Mary was usually so understanding about these sorts of things, as long as he was honest with her. He put his arm around Felix, and Felix's arm over his shoulders.

"So long, Felix!" The bartender called jovially, as he and Felix's other pub mates waved good-bye. "We'll see you next week!" The men broke out into laughter.

Little Freddie managed to get him outside, when suddenly Felix stopped.

"Freddie, mate."

Little Freddie turned to see Felix's face a shade of green he'd never seen before.

"I don't feel so good," Felix finished, swaying unsteadily on his feet before he turned and began vomiting into the ornamental bushes beside the doorway.

"Sorry," Little Freddie apologized to a couple who gasped in revulsion and side-stepped their way into the pub. After he was finished, Felix stood up and turned around, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Feeling better now?" Little Freddie asked.

Felix nodded with a heavy sigh.

"Good man." Little Freddie patted his chest. "Come on." When they reached his and Mary's 1992 Volkswagen Passat Station Wagon, he opened the passenger side door so that Felix could get in.

As he was getting in, Felix mumbled something about, "a fucking station wagon!"

Little Freddie sighed. "You're never going to let me live that down, are you?" Felix never could understand why Little Freddie had bought the damn thing when surely he could have afforded a Porsche, or a Mercedes-Benz, or a Volvo. And when Little Freddie had told him it was because Mary had insisted they get something functional and practical, that had just made Felix laugh even harder.

"Nothing more functional and practical than a fucking station wagon, mate. That’s for sure!" he'd crowed. But Little Freddie didn’t mind too very much. Mary kept him grounded, kept the fame and fortune from going to his head. And for that he was grateful. It was one of the many reasons why he loved her so.

"You want your window down, mate?" Little Freddie asked. Felix answered more or less in the affirmative, so Little Freddie rolled it down for him. "Put your seatbelt on," he instructed. He watched Felix struggle with it for a moment before reaching across and buckling it himself. "There you are. Now watch your fingers," Little Freddie told him before shutting the door. Then he came around and got into the driver's side. After fastening on his own seatbelt, he turned to Felix. "Alright, you good? You ready? Where's your wallet?" he asked, praying they hadn't left it behind in the pub. Felix felt around a bit before pulling it out of his back pocket. "Okay, good." He turned the key in the ignition, putting the car in drive, before pulling out onto the road.

"Wait!" Felix cried. "Where are my keys?" he asked, desperately searching all around.

"I've got them, mate. Remember?" Little Freddie told him.

"Oh...yeah," Felix said, relaxing back into his seat.

They rode along in companionable silence, Felix having quickly fallen asleep, until suddenly he woke up and spoke.

"Freddie, mate."

"What is it? Are you going to be sick again?" Little Freddie asked, preparing to pull over. 

"No," Felix laughed.

"What?" Little Freddie smiled at Felix's contagious laughter.

"Nothing. I was just thinking about all the crazy shit we've done together, mate," Felix said.

"Yeah," Little Freddie chuckled in agreement...

*******

**England - 1991**

The setlist had changed again for the last time before they would begin their professional careers.

1\. The Sons of Queen - The Sons of Queen (Freddie Mercury)

2\. [Bad To The Bone](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9bOsdHckhg) \- George Thorogood & The Destroyers

3\. [Centerfold](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XsUVTlyIE4) \- J. Geils Band

4\. [House Of The Rising Sun](https://youtu.be/0Fy7opKu46c) \- The Animals

5\. [Keep Your Hands To Yourself](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMFMf9cN64U) \- The Georgia Satellites

6\. [Magic Carpet Ride](https://youtu.be/fb_MR3LyLok) \- Steppenwolf

7\. [Mary Jane's Last Dance](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMSZALOGF_M) \- Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers _("Oh, my, my! Oh, hell yes! Honey, put on that party dress!"_ Little Freddie and Felix would sing together, grinning at each other, feeding off of each other's energy.)

8\. [Roxanne](https://youtu.be/3T1c7GkzRQQ) \- The Police

9\. [Smokin' In The Boys Room](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oVBvxA0mm0) \- Motley Crue

10\. [Start Me Up](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGyOaCXr8Lw) \- The Rolling Stones (Another of the boys' favourites - _"You make a grown man cry!" Little Freddie, Jimmy, and Robert would sing together, leaning against each other, big grins on their faces_ )

11\. [Witchy Woman](https://vimeo.com/152987250) \- The Eagles

Encore 1

[Immigrant Song](https://youtu.be/YBFE-Jm3zbE) \- Led Zeppelin

Encore 2

Medley: [Jailhouse Rock](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bf00FoksBs) \- Elvis Presley/[Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On](https://youtu.be/qwKAImEQoKA?t=5801) \- Jerry Lee Lewis

Encore 2

[Rock It (Prime Jive)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egMZN2bqCjE) \- Queen (The only Queen cover they agreed to do)

The Sons of Queen were really starting to come into their own, with a song Little Freddie had penned himself, and three encores added to their setlist. They'd all made tremendous improvements over the last three years, especially Little Freddie, who'd now developed a powerful singing voice, with a deep, throaty rock star growl - and just like his father before him, was able to sing anything in any style, even changing his style from line to line when required; also a charismatic stage presence, oozing the sex appeal of a thousand men. He'd taken up his father's striptease act, as it were - he'd come out wearing tight jeans or leather trousers (to advertise his, ahem, "assets"), always coupled with some sort of belt - be it made from a tie like some his father had worn, or even one with a big buckle after the style of Robert Plant; and either an open, unbuttoned shirt, tight t-shirt, or vest (tank top), which he would take off half-way through the set, his body glistening with sweat, and throw it out into the audience. Felix often followed suit, and of course the girls loved watching him drum shirtless. Jimmy and Robert didn't really seem to be into that sort of thing, although Little Freddie and Felix did manage to convince Robert to take his shirt off one time, which was met by the screams of adoring girls. And they'd also begun following in their father's footsteps - playing the club and college circuit in and around London, just as Queen had done in their early days.

Now at seventeen life was all about cars, chicks, and rock n' roll. And when they weren't performing on stage, or rehearsing, or spending time with their girlfriends, Little Freddie and Felix could be found in Roger's garage, covered in motor oil. Freddie thought the two of them rather fancied themselves Danny and Kenickie from _Grease_. He could have sworn he and Roger had walked in one time and caught them singing [_Greased Lightning_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wK63eUyk-iM) before they abruptly stopped and pretended they were doing something else. But for two teenage boys, Roger's garage was like a dream come true - a tool cabinet that stretched along the entire back wall, space to work on cars in the middle, room enough for their band practices, a pool table in one corner, a mini-fridge filled with cold beer, and of course hanging on all the walls were posters of skimpily clad women posing with cars, hotter than the souped up engines they worked on.

It was one time when they were working on Felix's car, that he'd started singing [_I'm In Love With My Car_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcXAelymbTI), but when he came to the part that said, _"I'd rather buy me a new carburetor"_ , he changed the words.

"Got a girl named Barbie and a car named Loretta," he sang.

"Loretta?" Little Freddie asked.

"Yeah, mate. What's wrong with that?" Felix asked.

"No, nothing, nothing," Little Freddie said. "It's just Loretta doesn't seem like much of a car name, you know?"

After that it became sort of an inside joke between the two of them. Little Freddie would call to see what Felix was up to, and Felix would say,

"Oh, not much, mate. Just elbow deep in Loretta." Which never failed to make them both laugh.

Felix also had this wild idea that if the band didn't work out, he and Little Freddie were going to open a car repair garage together called _Tires, Tits, and Transmissions_. He and Little Freddie would be the mechanics of course, and they'd have busty blondes in little tiny outfits for their assistants.

"Hand me that spanner (wrench)," Felix said without looking up.

"Here you are, Felix," Little Freddie answered in a high falsetto, placing the tool in Felix's hand.

"What the- that's not a spanner! That's a fucking screwdriver!" Felix exclaimed.

"Oh! Sorry, Felix," Little Freddie twittered, batting his eyelashes. "I guess I just got distracted staring at your big muscles." He ran a hand sensually down Felix's arm.

"Fuck off!" Felix told him good-naturedly, but he laughed too. "Point taken, mate. Girls don't know nothing about tools." And so it was decided the girls would have to be regulated to secretary duty, or better yet, just plain eye-candy.

It was also about this time that Little Freddie acquired a new attitude, one his parents weren't happy about at all. He was staying out late every night with Felix and the other boys, coming in with only seconds to spare until curfew. They were like mad dogs about the town, tearing down the roads at 145 kph (90 mph) in Felix's car, howling at the moon, with two six packs of beer, a carton of cigarettes (or more often than not spliffs from Felix's secret stash), and a bottle of either Moet, Cristal, Remy, Stoli, or Jack, which they'd sip neat straight from the bottle. Thank God for breath mints and cologne which had saved him from getting caught on more than one occasion. All of this of course only on the nights when he wasn't with Mary. She didn't like fast cars or driving late at night. He was barely keeping his marks above a C, didn't want to do his chores or schoolwork, and had begun to get mouthy and argumentative with his parents. Mary would gently remind him with a sickeningly sweet voice (which Little Freddie hated) and a smile, "Freddie you're about to be in violation of numbers three, nine, and ten." And then Little Freddie would grit his teeth, and force himself to rein it in. Freddie, however, had different methods. Little Freddie tried it only once with his father. It had been one time when he, Felix, and the others were practicing at Garden Lodge in the garage. Freddie was saying something to him about, "You better shape up, young man." And Little Freddie decided to get fresh with him.

"Right. Go stand in the corner. If you're going to behave like a child, then you can stand in the corner like a child, too," Freddie told him, pointing at a corner of the garage.

"No! Are you mad? I'm not gonna go stand in the corner," Little Freddie balked.

"Then you're grounded for a week. Go to your room," Freddie told him.

"No! No, Freddie, mate! We've got that big gig this weekend, remember?" Felix cried. "Just go stand in the corner, mate. Please. Come on."

"Fine!" Little Freddie turned to go stand in the corner, but Freddie stopped him.

"No. Come back," Freddie beckoned him with his finger. So Little Freddie turned around and came back.

"What now?" he asked, arms crossed over his chest.

"Lose the attitude and go stand in the corner properly, or you're going to be grounded for a week. It's your choice, but this is your last chance," Freddie told him.

"Alright," Little Freddie agreed quietly. He went to stand in the corner, calmly this time. Seventeen minutes he stood there staring at the wall, feeling completely mortified (which he supposed was the point), until Freddie called him back to him again.

"Come here, Freddie," he said. Little Freddie came and stood in front of him. "Talk to me like that again, and next time there won't be any second chances. You'll just be grounded for a week," Freddie warned him. "I'm your father, and you will treat me with respect. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, sir," Little Freddie answered softly.

"Right." Freddie left, leaving Little Freddie standing there in the middle of the floor. Luckily, none of the others commented on what had just happened, and they just picked up from where they had left off. But Little Freddie had learned his lesson and never did that again.

There did come a day, however, when Little Freddie accidentally took things too far. He'd honestly just been joking around with Felix, having a laugh. They'd been complaining about their mums and Little Freddie had finally decided to show him the contract. But instead of being bothered or upset by all the "stipulations", Felix just thought it was hilarious.

"Yeah, mate. My mum's always like, 'Freddie, have you done your homework? Freddie, take out the bins! Freddie, tidy up your room! Freddie, set the table! Freddie, wash up the dishes! You're about to be in violation of numbers three, nine, and ten, Freddie!" Little Freddie said, imitating his mother's voice as Felix laughed. He folded up the contract and placed it back in his wallet. "Huh. Sometimes she can be a right bitch." As soon as the words left his mouth, he instantly regretted them. He lifted his eyes to look at his girlfriend Mary, who'd come over to watch them practice. She just gave him a look of sad disappointment and turned away. Even among Felix and the others, there was a feeling that perhaps that had been going a bit too far.

Suddenly, Little Freddie felt somebody grab him by the arm, and then smack him on the arse. Hard. "Ow." He put his hand back reflexively, and looked over to see his father standing there looking the angriest Little Freddie had ever seen him in his entire life.

"Frederick Bomi Mercury!" _Uh-oh. Frederick. Not good._ "I am completely ashamed and disgusted with you! How dare you talk about your mother like that, when all she's ever done is love you, and look after you, and take care of you!" his father fumed. "I don't care if you are seventeen, you're going to get a spanking for that. You don't talk about your mother that way. You don't talk about **_any_** woman that way. And if I ever hear you say that word or talk about your mother like that again, I will put you over my knee and spank you right here in front of everybody. You'll be grounded for a month, and I will personally see to it that you are out of the band - permanently. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, sir," Little Freddie managed to answer.

"You're grounded for a week. Go to your room." Freddie released his arm, and Little Freddie went directly inside, making eye contact with no one.

Freddie turned to the others. "I think it's time you all went home," he said. "Mary, darling, don't worry. I'll have Terry give you a ride home."

Felix, Jimmy, and Robert didn't hesitate. They began packing up their things, said a prayer for Little Freddie's soul - and his arse, and left out immediately.

When Freddie came upstairs later, he found Little Freddie sat glumly at the foot of his bed. He came into the room, and shut the door behind him. Now Little Freddie hadn't gotten a spanking in five years since he was twelve, and even then it had only been three swats after Freddie had found him, Felix, Jimmy, and Robert in the garden, smoking cigarettes he'd nicked from him and Jim (a bad habit Little Freddie, Felix, and Robert had taken up again recently. Thank God his father didn't know about that!). But despite this, and the fact that Little Freddie was seventeen-years-old and as big as he was, Freddie kept his word and spanked him just like he'd told him he was going to. And he made sure it hurt. It was probably the hardest spanking Little Freddie had ever gotten from his father - seventeen hard, sharp smacks that stung even through the denim of his jeans. But even so, Little Freddie knew the pain wasn't the main purpose of it. He knew his father was trying to make a point - one he got loud and clear. He couldn't stop thinking about his father's words to him: "I’m completely disgusted with you!" To be honest, he was completely disgusted with himself, too. He'd never felt more ashamed or embarrassed of himself. And he remembered the look of sad disappointment in Mary's eyes. What must she think of him now? She was probably thinking - how was he going to treat her, if he didn't even respect his own mother? And that was the worst part. Afterwards Little Freddie stood there hanging his head. 

Freddie gave him a sorrowful look. "Come here," he said. Little Freddie came over, and Freddie put his arms around him, hugging him close. That's when the tears spilled over. "Shhh. There, there," Freddie soothed, rubbing his back. "You know I really hated to have to do that, Freddie."

"I know. And I'm so sorry, Dad. I'm so sorry," Little Freddie said, his words muffled against his father's shoulder. Freddie held him tighter.

"I know you are. I know you are." He continued rubbing his back. "But I'm not really the one you need to say that to though, am I?"

"No," Little Freddie agreed.

"Listen, Freddie," his father said. "I know your mum may give you a bit of a hard time sometimes, but it's only because she loves you so much and worries about you. Surely you can understand that, hmm?" 

Little Freddie nodded. "Yeah."

"Alright. Go wash your face, and then lie down for a little while, okay?" Freddie patted him on the back.

"Okay," Little Freddie said.

Freddie gave him a kiss on the side of the head. "I love you."

"I love you, too," Little Freddie told him.

Later that afternoon, he and his dad went over to his mum's house. Little Freddie knocked, then stood staring at the ground, hands in his pockets.

"Hello there!" Mary greeted them both with a kiss on the cheek when she came to the door. "And to what do I owe this pleasure?" she asked with a smile.

Now, Mary hadn't been there when Little Freddie had said what he said, and he didn't tell her about it either. "Oh, hey there, Mum," he said. "Listen, me and dad had a _talk_ and, erm...I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for the way I've been behaving lately. I'm sorry I've been being so difficult. Can you forgive me?"

"Well, of course I forgive you!" Mary told him. With tears in her eyes, she hugged him close.

"I love you, Mum," Little Freddie said, returning her embrace. And he meant it.

"I love you, too, Freddie. So much!" Mary said. "And I just want what's best for you."

A week later, after his restriction had been lifted, Felix and the others came back over for another practice. But Little Freddie's heart just wasn't in it. Felix could tell he was still feeling ashamed and embarrassed about what had happened the week before.

"Hey, don't sweat it, Freddie, mate," Felix said to him at last. "Many's the time I've gotten my own arse whooped for doing or saying something stupid. One time my mum caught me nicking £5 from her handbag and she told my dad. You ever get an arse whoopin' with a wooden drum stick to the tune of _We Will Rock You_? Yeah. Not fun. Zero out of ten would recommend. I still cringe when I hear that song. My dad was always in rhythm, even when he was whoopin' our arses." They all had a good laugh, and everything seemed to go a bit smoother after that. But Felix couldn't help but joke around with him about it later. He was teasing Little Freddie about something, and Little Freddie called him a _bastard_ or a _wanker_ , or something like that (first making sure his father wasn't around, of course).

"Hey! Hey! Watch your mouth! You better shape up, young man," Felix mock scolded him with his finger. "That's in violation of number eight. You wanna go stand in the corner again?"

"Fuck off!" Little Freddie laughed.

"Don't make me turn you over my knee, young man," Felix continued on. "Don't make me go get the hairbrush."

 _Fuckin' Felix._ He did always know how to make Little Freddie feel better though.

Mary came over later as well after they were finished with band practice, and she and Little Freddie went for a walk together.

"You deserved that, you know," she told him, as they walked along, holding hands. "Your dad's right. Your mum seems like a wonderful woman who really loves you, and she didn't deserve for you to call her that."

"I know," Little Freddie said.

Mary sighed. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to lecture. I just get upset when people talk bad about their mums. I mean that's your mum! The person that has looked after you and taken care of you your entire life. Nobody should take their mum for granted. There are a lot of people out there that have lost their mum or don't have a mum, and they'd give anything to have one, even the nagging kind."

"I know," Little Freddie said again. "And I'm so sorry, Mary. I should have never said what I did. It was awful and I wish I could take it back. But I can't, and I feel really terrible about it."

"Well, I'm not the one you should apologize to, Freddie," Mary told him. Suddenly Little Freddie stopped walking and turned to her.

"Yes. Yes, you are," he said. "I know I disappointed you with what I said. And I don't ever want to disappoint you. Not ever. Having you disappointed me is the worst feeling in the whole world. Can you forgive me?"

"Of course I forgive you, Freddie," Mary said, wrapping her arms around him.

"I promise I won't ever do that again," he said into her hair. Mary pulled back slightly.

"You'd better not, Freddie Mercury," she mock scolded him with her finger. "Or next time I'll spank you myself." Little Freddie gave her a half-grin.

"I did apologize to my mum," he said. "I mean, I didn't tell her what I said _exactly_. I just said I was sorry for the way I've been behaving lately, and sorry that I've been being so difficult, and I asked her to forgive me."

"Well then I'm proud of you, Freddie. And as long as you really meant it, then that's all you need to do," Mary told him. "We all make mistakes. But the important thing is to take responsibility and learn from them. Leastways that's what my dad always says. And he should know!" Mary's dad owned a pub and hotel - The Dog & Fox, as well as his own distillery. He fancied himself a sort of inventor and was always trying out new things to make alcohol from - often with disastrous, albeit hilarious, results. Mary laughed. "Have I ever told you about the time he caught fire to my mum's brand new curtains?"

"No," Little Freddie said. So they walked along again, Mary regaling him with the tale, and Little Freddie was comforted that when he made mistakes, even big mistakes, his parents and Mary would be there to forgive him. And of course Felix would be there too, to tease him about it and see him through it with a laugh.


	6. Leaving Home (Sneaking Out) Ain't Easy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Little Freddie, Felix, Jimmy, and Robert sneak out past curfew to go to a gig in Liverpool. Will they get caught?
> 
> Also, Freddie helps take care of a sick baby. Super fluffy.

So, Little Freddie tried to do better over the next little while. It wasn't that he stopped doing all the bad things he was doing, it was just that he tried to be more _respectful_ about it. He did his homework and his chores when his mother asked him, without complaining - or at least without complaining _too_ much. He also did his best not to row so much with his parents, and when there was a row, he tried to keep the arguing and back chat to a minimum. Overall, his parents would say his general attitude and behaviour was much improved. But his streak of good behaviour was soon met with a dilemma. The Sons of Queen's popularity continued to grow, and with it came bigger gigs and larger, more important venues. One Tuesday afternoon in September they were practicing at Garden Lodge again. Felix looked both ways, making sure Freddie was nowhere near, then came out from behind his drums.

"I got us a gig Friday night," he told the others.

"Really? Where?" Jimmy asked, only half-listening as he tuned his guitar.

Felix grinned. "The Cavern Club in Liverpool."

"Fuckin' Liverpool, Felix! That's like four hours away!" Little Freddie cried.

"Shhh!" Felix motioned with his hands to keep it down. They all turned to look at the garage door, praying Freddie hadn't heard. But the garage door remained firmly shut. Felix turned back to Little Freddie. "Not the way I drive, mate. I can get us there in half the time. Three hours tops," he told him. "But the problem is, we have to meet with the owner by 4:30 to go over the details, and as a guarantee that'll we'll be there. So you and Robert'll have to skive off school."

"And how are we supposed to do that without getting caught?" Robert asked.

"Well, that's easy, mate," Felix said. "Just wait until dinner at 1:15, and while everybody else is walking over to Bekynton house to eat, you and Freddie sneak away to where me and Jimmy'll be parked down the street. We'll go to Liverpool, meet with the owner, and I'll have you both back at school by the time the last class ends at 7:30, so that way when you get picked up, it'll look like you've been at school all day." Classes at Eton ended at 12:25 on Saturdays (yes, it was a real pain in the arse having to attend school on Saturdays!), 1:15 on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays they ran all the way until 7:30.

"It's not like it matters anyway, mate," Little Freddie said with a sigh. "In case you've forgotten, me and Robert have school on Saturday. Not supposed to do gigs on nights when we've got school the next day."

"You and Robert'll just have to sneak out," Felix said.

"Are you mad?! You want us to skive off school and sneak out all on the same day?!" Little Freddie asked. "What time are we supposed to go on anyway?"

"Er...well...we're supposed to go on at 1:00."

"In the morning?!" Little Freddie exclaimed.

"Come on, Freddie. It's the fuckin' Cavern Club! Where The Beatles played in their early days. How can we turn that down?" Felix said. "Besides, afterwards we can start asking for more money for our gigs on account of us having played on one of the same stages as The Beatles."

"My mum's gonna kill me if she finds out," Little Freddie lamented, head in his hands. "And I'll be out of the band for sure."

"Well, we'll just have to make sure she doesn't find out then, eh?" Felix grinned.

*******

That Friday, their plan seemed to go off without a hitch. Terry dropped Little Freddie off at school at 9:00 like always (except for Tuesdays and Thursdays when he had to be there at 8:35). He would have much preferred to drive himself now that he was seventeen and had his driving licence, but there was very limited parking available in the vicinity of the school, as well as the fact that he didn't want to leave his father's old black and burgundy Daimler/Jaguar that he'd passed down to him for his seventeenth birthday, unattended on the street all day while he was in school. He and Robert went to their morning classes, the last of which ended at precisely 1:15, when it was time for the boys' dinner. As the boys left their classrooms and were walking back across campus to Bekynton house where dinner was served, Little Freddie and Robert hung back surreptitiously from the group, then carefully snuck down the street to where Felix and Jimmy were parked waiting. Before leaving Windsor, they stopped at a petrol station so that Felix could fill up on petrol, and Little Freddie and Robert could change out of their school uniforms. These they folded up meticulously and placed in their bags, as they would need to change back into them later. Then they made their way to Liverpool via the M40 and the M6. And as Felix was pulling onto the motorway, it just so happened that Steppenwolf's [ _Born To Be Wild_](https://youtu.be/rMbATaj7Il8)came on the radio. Felix cranked up the volume and all four of them sang their hearts out:

 _Get your motor runnin'_ _  
_ _Head out on the highway_ _  
_ _Lookin' for adventure_ _  
_ _And whatever comes our way_ _  
_ _Yeah Darlin' go make it happen_ _  
_ _Take the world in a love embrace_ _  
_ _Fire all of your guns at once_ _  
_ _And explode into space_

 _Like a true nature's child_ _  
_ _We were born, born to be wild_ _  
_ _We can climb so high_ _  
_ _I never wanna die_

 _Born to be wild_ _  
_ _Born to be wild_

And with nothing but the wind in their hair and the speed beneath the wheels, their troubles seemed all very small and far away. They were four young lads off on an adventure without a care in the world.

*******

That afternoon, Freddie was puttering around the garden with Jim, when Phoebe brought him the phone.

"It's Freddie's school," he said.

Freddie took the phone. "Yes, this is Freddie Mercury."

"Ah, Mr. Mercury, so sorry to disturb you, this is Mr. William Anderson, headmaster at Eton where your son attends school."

"Yes," Freddie said.

"I did try phoning Freddie's mother first, but I was unable to reach her. I was just calling to ask, did she or you give him permission to leave campus early today?"

"No, we most certainly did not," Freddie told him, failing to keep the instant rush anger out of his voice.

"I was afraid of that. It seems some of the other boys spotted Freddie leaving the campus around 1:15 this afternoon during the boys' dinner, and he has yet to return for any of his other afternoon classes."

"Mm. And let me guess, he was with Robert Deacon," Freddie said, examining his nails.

It sounded like the headmaster put his hand over the receiver to ask somebody something, probably one of the other boys. Shortly he came back on the line. "Yes, that's right."

"And were they seen getting into an old 1975 Alfa Romeo Spider? It would have been a blonde-haired boy driving, and he probably had another boy there with him - Felix Taylor and Jimmy May - they used to attend school there as well, as I'm sure you're already well aware," Freddie said.

The headmaster left the line again for a moment. "Well, yes," he said when he returned. "How did you-"

"Right," Freddie said. "Well, don't worry about it, dear. I'll take care of it. Thank you for ringing me and letting me know. I'm sorry for all the trouble he's caused. And you can rest assured it will not happen again. Freddie will be there bright and early tomorrow morning, and I hope you throw the book at him."

After ringing off with the headmaster, Freddie got Brian, Roger, and John on the phone for a four-way call.

"I've just had a very interesting call from Freddie's headmaster," he said. And he told them the situation. "So, Deacy I'm sure you'll be getting a call from the headmaster as well."

"That's probably him ringing in right now on the other line," John said.

"Right. Well, don't anybody say anything to them," Freddie said. "Let me talk to them. I'll wait until I can get them all together. Probably either sometime tonight or tomorrow, whenever they come over to practice in the garage." Everyone agreed with that course of action.

"You get 'em, Freddie," Roger said.

"Oh, don't worry, darling, I intend to," Freddie told him. And then they rang off.

*******

Little Freddie and the others got to The Cavern Club just in time to meet with the owner at 4:30. They gave him a copy of their setlist and went over the arrangements and how much they were to be paid.

"It's not Sons of Queen, it's _The_ Sons of Queen," Felix was sure to tell him.

Then they made their way back towards Windsor. And this time as they merged onto the motorway, it was AC/DC's [_Highway to Hell_](https://youtu.be/SMaVii7nnj4) that was playing - another song that seemed to have lyrics tailor-made to fit the occasion:

 _No stop signs, speed limit_ _  
_ _Nobody's gonna slow me down_ _  
_ _Like a wheel, gonna spin it_ _  
_ _Nobody's gonna mess me around_ _  
_ _Hey Satan, paid my dues_ _  
_ _Playing in a rocking band_ _  
_ _Hey mama, look at me_ _  
_ _I'm on my way to the promised land, whoo!_

 _I'm on the highway to hell_ _  
_ _Highway to hell_  
_I'm on the highway to hell_ _  
_ Highway to hell

When they reached Windsor, they stopped at another petrol station so that Little Freddie and Robert could change back into their school uniforms. The attendant was a little surprised seeing two Eton boys emerging from the loos! With fifteen minutes to spare, Felix dropped them off at the Burning Bush - an iron lamp-post conveniently positioned right in the centre of the town of Eton and hence often used as a meeting point among the boys. This is where Little Freddie and Robert would stand together every day waiting to be picked up, as they were the only two students at Eton who didn't board full-time at the school.

"Right. Here's the plan," Felix said, before they got out. "Me and Jimmy'll go over to my dad's garage and get all of our stuff loaded into the van. Robert, Me and Jimmy'll be parked down the road from your house at 9:30. Freddie, we'll come pick you up afterwards. Give you a little more time." Then he and Jimmy left.

*******

Freddie waited until 8:00 when he knew Little Freddie would have made it home from school, then he rang over to Mary's house and asked to speak to Little Freddie.

"He's just gotten home from school. I think he's changing," Mary said. "Just a moment." She laid the phone down. "Freddie! Your dad's on the phone! He wants to speak to you!" Freddie heard Mary call. Shortly Little Freddie came and picked up the phone.

"Hey, Dad."

"Hey," Freddie said. "I was just calling to see how you lot are getting on. So, how was your day?"

"It was okay," Little Freddie said.

"How was school?"

"Fine."

"And how were all your classes?"

"Good."

"Anything fun happen today?" Freddie asked.

"No, not really," Little Freddie sighed. "It was kind of boring, actually."

"Boring, huh?" Freddie said. 

"Yeah. Listen, Dad, I've got to go. I'm going over to Mary's house."

"Alright, be good and mind your mum."

"Okay, Dad, I will."

"Okay, I love you."

"I love you, too, Dad. I'll talk to you later, alright?"

"Alright, let me talk to Kashmira."

"Okay, hang on. Kash! Dad's on the phone! He wants to talk to you!" he called. "Here she is," he said, before handing the phone over to her.

"Hey, Daddy," Kashmira answered.

"Hey, baby," Little Freddie heard his dad say before he stepped away. _Whew! That was close!_

"Mum! I'm going over to Mary's house!" he shouted to his mother, picking up his keys.

"Well, aren't you at least going to eat dinner first?" Mary asked, popping her head out from the kitchen.

"Nah. I'll just eat at Mary's house. Her parents don't mind," he said as he went out the door.

*******

So, Little Freddie went over to Mary's house where he was invited to a dinner of fried chicken, and chocolate pie for dessert. Then he and Mary sat on the sofa in the sitting room watching television for just a few minutes. He put his arm around her, and she cuddled up close, laying her head against his chest. It was so comforting, feeling the warmth of his touch, and the steady rhythm of his heartbeat in her ear.

"So, do you have any gigs coming up?" Mary asked. 

"Yeah, tonight actually," Little Freddie said without taking his eyes from the television screen.

"Really? Where?"

Little Freddie drew in a breath, hesitating a moment.

"The Cavern Club in Liverpool," he answered at last.

"The Cavern Club?!" Mary gasped, her eyes lighting up. "Isn't that where The Beatles played when they were first starting out?"

"Yes, that's right," Little Freddie told her.

"But, isn't that like four hours from here?" Mary asked. "What time do you go on?"

"Er...1:00," Little Freddie said. "We're to be the last band before they close at 2:00."

"Wow! And your mum was okay with that? I thought you and Robert had school tomorrow."

"We do...have school tomorrow," Little Freddie said.

"And what did your mum say?"

Little Freddie didn't answer. 

"Freddie, your mum does know about the gig, doesn't she?" Mary asked.

"Well, no not exactly," Little Freddie admitted.

"Freddie!" Mary gasped.

"I know. I know," Little Freddie said. "But it's The Cavern Club! And Felix says we can't afford to turn it down. He says afterwards we can start asking for more money for our gigs on account of us having played on one of the same stages as The Beatles."

"Hmph." Mary sat back against the sofa, arms folded over her chest. "You ought not listen to Felix so much."

"Probably not," Little Freddie agreed. "But when it comes to music, he knows what he's talking about." He sighed. "Well, I guess I'd better be going," he said. "Come on now, and give me a kiss for good luck." He leant down, and Mary gave him a kiss.

"I do wish you good luck, all the luck in the world. I really do," Mary told him. "I just hope you don't get into trouble."

"I hope we don't either," Little Freddie said. He stood up and went into the kitchen.

"Goodbye, Mrs. Smith," he said, addressing Mary's mother, who had her back to him. "I'd better be going."

She turned around to face him. "So soon?" she said, coming over and gathering him into a hug.

"I'm afraid so," he said. "Thank you so much for having me, and for dinner. It was delicious."

"Well, anytime, Freddie. You know that," she told him. "You take care and be safe on the way home, you hear? We'll see you soon."

"Yes, ma'am, I will. And thank you again." Little Freddie reached down and kissed her on the cheek. He walked back into the sitting room, where Mary was still sat with her arms folded across her chest. "Bye." He leant down and gave her another kiss. "I love you. I'll call you tomorrow," he told her, and then he left.

*******

"Mum, I'm home!" Little Freddie shouted, throwing his keys down on the hallway table. He made sure he made it home by 9:00 before his mum went to bed so she would know he was in for the night and she wouldn't be waiting up for him, or wake up and come looking for him later to see if he'd made it home yet. He walked into the sitting room to find her folding some sheets.

"Hello, darling," she said.

"Hey, Mum." Little Freddie came over and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Here, let me do that," he said, taking over folding the sheets for her.

"Oh, thank you, darling," Mary said. She was currently four months pregnant with her second child with Piers, and would take all the help she could get. She sighed and sat down on the sofa. "I think I finally got Richard to sleep," she said. Richard, of course, was Little Freddie and Kashmira's 18-month-old half-brother. "How were Mary and her parents?"

"They're all fine," Little Freddie said. He took the folded sheets and placed them in the linen cupboard, then came and sat down beside his mum on the sofa.

"Well, that's good, darling." She placed a hand on his knee. "I'm pretty tired. I'm going to go lie down."

"Alright, Mum," Little Freddie said. "Is it okay if I stay up for a little while and watch T.V.?"

"Of course, darling. That's perfectly fine. But not too late. You've got school in the morning," Mary told him. She bent down and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Well, goodnight, darling. I'll see you in the morning. You know if you need anything I'm just right upstairs."

"Alright, goodnight, Mum. See you in the morning," Little Freddie said, returning her kiss. He waited until she'd gone upstairs and closed her bedroom door, then looked up at the clock. 9:15. Felix had said he and Jimmy would be outside Robert's house in Putney at 9:30, and it was about 20 minutes from Putney to Kensington, so he figured they should be at his house somewhere around 9:50. He turned the television on to some non-descript BBC programme just to pass the time, but his eyes stayed mainly on the clock. He waited another 15 minutes, and as soon as the clock read 9:30 and he was sure his mother was asleep, he put his plan into action. He turned off the television, and crept upstairs to his room so as not to wake his mother. There he used the old trick of arranging his pillows and blankets in such a way that it looked like he was in bed sleeping. Afterwards, he made sure his bedroom window was open a crack in case something happened and he couldn't come back in the front door. Then with his holdall (duffel bag) that contained his stage attire in hand, he snuck back downstairs, grabbed his keys, turned off all the lights, and went out the front door, making sure to ease it shut and lock it quietly behind him. He stood out on the verandah, watching the road. Shortly, he saw a van pull up and park a little ways down the road. It flashed its lights at him twice before going dark. Leaving the verandah, he walked down to the van, opened the front passenger side door, and slid inside.

"Yeah! Woo-hoo! Alright, mate!" Felix said, he and the others high-fiving Little Freddie. "Come on, let's do this!" He cranked up the engine, turned on the lights, pulled out onto the road, and they were on their way.

*******

However, they couldn't all help but feel a little nervous - about the gig, but also wondering if they'd really manage to pull this whole thing off. But once again, the radio seemed to hold the answer. Felix turned it on, and it was The Eagles - [ _Take It Easy._](https://youtu.be/4v8KEbQA8kw) And it seemed like a sign.

" _Well, I'm a-runnin' down the road, tryin' to loosen my load. I've got seven women on my mind_ ," Little Freddie sang.

" _Four that want to own me_ ," Felix came in.

" _Two that want to stone me_ ," Jimmy continued.

" _One said she's a friend of mine_ …" Robert waggled his eyebrows suggestively, and they all laughed.

_Take it easy, take it easy_  
_Don't let the sound of your own wheels drive you crazy_  
_Lighten up while you still can_  
_Don't even try to understand_  
_Just find a place to make your stand_  
_Take it easy_

They felt more at ease after that, and with Felix's speed-demon driving they made good time to Liverpool, pulling in at The Cavern Club right at midnight, which left them an hour to get their equipment and instruments set up, and changed into their stage clothes before they went on at 1:00.

"Good evening, Liverpool!" Little Freddie shouted to the audience when they came on stage. "Or should I say good morning? This is our first time playing in Liverpool, so we just wanted to say thank you for sticking around and making it a special occasion for us. Okay, on with the show!"

Despite the late hour, the crowd was an enthusiastic one and The Sons of Queen were well received, so much so in fact that the owner had a little surprise for them at the end.

"So-long, Liverpool! Thank you! We really appreciate it!" Little Freddie said to the audience at the end of the show. "Now, let's all get the fuck out of here!"

"I shouldn't have put you boys on so late. You've got them all riled up and now they won't want to go home!" The owner joked with them later. "You boys did a really good job. I haven't seen a show that good in a very long time. So as a special thank you, here's a little something extra." And he gave them an extra £50 - each. "Hopefully you'll come back and play again someday. You're welcome anytime."

They rushed to pack up their things as quickly as possible, but even so, it was gone 3:00 before they left - in high spirts but completely knackered. Felix turned on the radio. Meat Loaf's _[Bat Out Of Hell](https://youtu.be/3QGMCSCFoKA)_ came from the speakers.

"Yeah, that's how you better drive if you want to get us home on time," Little Freddie said.

"Don't worry, mate. Ol' Van-essa here's still got it in her," Felix told him, patting the dashboard affectionately. Little Freddie just rolled his eyes.

"Whoo!" Felix (a die-hard Meat Loaf fan for reasons Little Freddie could never understand) let out a whoop of excitement, drumming his hands on the steering wheel, and began singing:

_Like a bat out of hell I'll be gone when the morning comes_  
_When the night is over, like a bat out of hell, I'll be gone, gone, gone_  
_Like a bat out of hell I'll be gone when the morning comes_  
_But when the day is done_  
_And the sun goes down_  
_And the moonlight's shining through_  
_Then like a sinner before the gates of Heaven_  
_I'll come crawling on back to you_

*******

Freddie awoke with a gasp, having completely soaked through his sheets in a cold sweat. He'd just had the most terrible dream of his life...again. Filled with images of the dead and dying. He'd been having these dreams for what felt like months now. Though he still hadn't confided in anyone, not even Jim or Mary, the current AIDS crisis had really gotten to him. Freddie knew he had nothing to worry about - he'd had blood test after blood test done throughout the years and they'd all come back negative. But every time he was confronted with it, a deep feeling of dread pooled in his stomach, leaving him thinking _what if_? [_What if_ he and the others hadn't been forced by EMI's insurance company to take that ridiculous (or so he'd thought at the time) sexual education class back in 1974 before Queen had gone on their first tour of America?](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21620254?view_full_work=true) _What if_ Brian, Roger, and John hadn't spoken to him again after the class and convinced him that he needed to take things seriously, lest he be, in their words: _struck down in his prime, with so much more to do, so much life still yet to live, and all because of a terrible disease he caught from some one night stand_. He'd be just like the countless others that filled the front pages of the newspapers and television screens (in fact, it disturbed him so deeply he couldn’t bear to watch it, and if anything came up on television to do with it, he would have to end up either turning over to another channel or switching the television set off completely). He'd already quietly and anonymously donated thousands to HIV/AIDS charities and research foundations. But still it felt like surely there must something more that could be done. He'd even thought about speaking to Brian and the others about founding their own charity for the cause. He just hadn't quite mustered up the courage to approach the others with the idea yet.

He turned to look at Jim, who lay open-mouthed and snoring away beside him. Then he turned back, running a hand down his face to wipe away some of the sweat. That's when he happened to look out the bedroom window over at Mary's house, and noticed that her sitting room light was on. He lay there watching for a few minutes, waiting for her to turn the light off and go back to bed, but the light stayed on. He looked at the clock. 4:22. Well, he obviously wasn't going to be able to get back to sleep, so he decided he'd give her a call, just to make sure everything was alright. He got up and got dressed. Pulling on a vest, he then wrapped his robe around him, and slipped into his slippers. Then he went out, closing the door quietly behind him, and went downstairs to call Mary. She came to the phone on the third ring.

"Yes, hello," she answered, and Freddie could hear the baby crying in the background.

"Hey, it's me," Freddie said. "I saw your sitting room light was on, and I just wanted to make sure everything was okay over there."

"It's just Richard," Mary told him. "He woke up crying, and I can't seem to get him to go back down."

"Well, you want me to come over and give you a hand?" Freddie asked.

"Oh no, Freddie. I don't want to keep you up," Mary said.

"Don't worry, darling, you're not keeping me up," Freddie told her. "I wasn't getting much sleep anyway, not with the way Jim was snoring in there." They both laughed. "Come on, let me come over there and see if I can help."

"Well, alright. I'll unlock the door," Mary said. "And you're sure you don't mind?"

"No, no, not at all," Freddie told her. "I'm on my way over there now."

They rang off, and Freddie walked the short distance over to Mary's house. She met him at the front door and let him inside and they went into the sitting room. In her arms she held an inconsolable and very red-faced Richard.

"I don't think he's feeling very well. I think he might be getting an ear infection. I noticed he was tugging on his ears yesterday and he didn't feel much like eating or drinking anything," Mary said. She pressed her lips to his forehead. "He feels really warm. I'm just going to go get the baby thermometer and measure his temperature." Gently patting his back, she carried him from the sitting room. "It's alright, darling. Mummy's just going to measure your temperature and give you some medicine to make you feel all better..."

Freddie sat down on the sofa and waited for them to return. But it seemed they were taking quite a long while. He had been just about to get up and go looking for them to make sure everything was alright, when Mary finally came back into the room. Little Richard was crying harder than ever, wailing at the terrible injustices that had just been done to him.

"Ohh. I know. I know, sweetheart," Mary spoke to him gently. "Poor baby. Mummy's so sorry she had to do that, but soon you'll feel all better." Freddie came over and reached out for the baby, and Mary placed him in his arms.

"Well, he is NOT happy. I don't think he quite enjoyed having _that_ done," she said.

"No, I would imagine not," Freddie said. "And I don't blame him. I know I certainly wouldn't have."

"He's got a fever of 40°C (104°F)," Mary told him.

"Ooh," Freddie said, concern in his voice.

"I know. I feel so bad for him. I'm going to try to get him in to the doctor's as soon as they open," Mary said.

"Yes, darling. You've got to get him round to the paediatrician's first thing," Freddie agreed sagely, nodding his head.

"I'm just not sure if they're open on Saturdays, it being the weekend and all," Mary said.

"Well, don't worry, darling," Freddie told her. "If they're not open, I can always call and ask Dr. Atkinson. I'm sure he wouldn't mind coming round to have a look at him." Dr. Gordon Atkinson, who owned a clinic over on London's famous Harley Street, had been Freddie's personal physician, and close friend, for many years now, and was always willing to go completely out of his way to accommodate Freddie in any way that he possibly could, should Freddie need him.

"Alright, thank you, darling. I really appreciate that," Mary said, to which Freddie nodded in reply. She reached over to stroke Richard's head. "I tried giving him some Calpol just now, but he just threw it right back up again, I think because his fever's so high. So unfortunately I had to end up giving him a Nurofen children's suppository instead, to try and get his temperature down. Poor baby. Oh, well. I suppose they do tend to work faster than Calpol anyway. I just hate having to do that. But if his fever were to get any higher, I'd have to take him down to the A&E (emergency room)."

Huh. Freddie knew what that was like. He had been on both the [giving](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27386089/chapters/66928060) and [receiving](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20858045/chapters/49580231) end of those, and it most certainly wasn't any fun either way. _He just had to have a thermometer AND a suppository up his bum? The thermometer by itself must have been terrible enough. But then he had to get a suppository, TOO? Well, no wonder he was crying and upset!_ , he thought to himself.

"If you don't mind I'm just going to go look in on Kashmira for a moment," Mary said. "I'll be right back."

"Take your time, darling," Freddie said. "We'll be just fine right here." He cuddled little Richard close. "Come here, baby. Shhh. There, there," he soothed, rubbing his back. "I've been there, darling. And trust me, I know. It's absolutely dreadful. But you'll feel better soon. Just close your eyes, baby, and go to sleep." And he gave him a kiss. He tried to think of something to sing to comfort him. He knew at this age when they're still babies, the words themselves didn't matter so much as the calming sound of your voice.

" _It's so easy, but I can't do it_ ," he began.

_So risky - But I gotta chance it_  
_So funny, but there's nothing to laugh about_  
_My money, that's all you wanna talk about_  
_I can see what you want me to be_  
_I'm no fool_

_It's[in the lap of the Gods](https://youtu.be/Y_8kk3_-_ck)_  
_Woah, woah, la-la-la, woah_  
_Woah, woah, la-la_  
_Wah wah ooh_

" _I love you_ ," Freddie sang, changing the words to the last line - _I'm no fool._ And he gave another kiss to little Richard, who was already fast asleep in his arms. He knew Richard was _biologically_ Piers' child. But it was Freddie's name he bore - Richard **Frederick** Austin - not Piers. And as far as Freddie was concerned, Richard was just as much his son as Little Freddie was. Despite the fact that they were now expecting their second child together, just like all of Mary's other boyfriends before him, she and Piers' relationship hadn't lasted that long. And Freddie felt partially responsible, as Piers claimed his leaving was because he felt "overshadowed" by Freddie.

"You've never been able to let him go," Piers had said during their last row, just two weeks before Mary had found out she was pregnant with their second child.

"Let him go?" Mary had scoffed. "He's the father of two of my children!"

"You're still in love with him. You've always been in love with him," Piers had said. "I'm so sorry, Mary, but I can't go on sharing your love with another man - gay or not." And then he had turned and slowly walked away. He'd dropped out of her and Richard's life altogether after that.

Later, Freddie had wrapped his arms around her protectively and held her close as she'd told him through her tears what Piers had said.

"Oh, darling, don't worry. We'll get over that," he said, rubbing her back comfortingly. Then he gave her a kiss. "Let's go and sit." So they had, and they'd talked it all over, until Mary had almost forgotten what'd she'd been sad about in the first place. Freddie had that way about him - so uplifting. He could take the hardest, worst situations imaginable and turn them around with a smile and a laugh, even at his own expense. As long as they had each other they could get through anything.

Just then Mary came back into the room.

"You've always had the magic touch," she smiled, seeing the baby asleep in Freddie's arms. She smoothed Richard's hair back affectionately. "He's out like a light."

They went upstairs to the nursery and Freddie laid Richard down in his cot. He stroked his little head then he bent down and kissed him ever so gently on the forehead.

"I think he feels a bit cooler now," Freddie said when he straightened up.

Mary bent down to kiss him as well, smoothing his hair again. "The medicine must be working. Hopefully it'll keep him comfortable and let him rest until I can get him in to the doctor's," she said. They left the nursery, closing the door quietly behind them, and came back downstairs to the sitting room. With nothing but the hallway light filtering in through the open door for illumination, they sat beside each other on the sofa talking together. Freddie glanced up casually at the clock. 5:22. He stood up to yawn and stretch and moved over to look out the window, with his back toward Mary, when suddenly who should be standing in front of him but Little Freddie, Felix, Jimmy, and Robert. They saw him at the same time as he saw them, and froze like rabbits in the headlights. _Oh shit._

Freddie was the first to recover his senses. "Go! Go!" he motioned to them. Of course, as luck would have it, Mary noticed right away.

"What's the matter, darling?" she asked, trying to peer past him. "Is there something outside?"

Freddie spun around. "No, no," he said with what he hoped was a convincing smile plastered on his face. "It was just Oscar. You know how he likes to roam. I was just telling him 'Go! Go home!'" He gave a nervous chuckle.

*******

Little Freddie and the others ran full-speed across the lawn.

"Oh, man, your dad's gonna kill us!" Felix whined.

When they reached the area just below Little Freddie's bedroom window they stopped. Little Freddie threw down his bag and immediately began trying, unsuccessfully, to scale the water pipe.

After the third failed attempt Felix rolled his eyes. _Oh, bloody hell. He was going to have to help him_. He went over to Little Freddie. "Here, mate, let me give you a boost." He laced his fingers together, forming a hold into which Little Freddie placed his foot. With a heavy groan Felix lifted him up. Using the heels of his hands, Little Freddie pushed up the window, thankful now that he'd remembered to leave it cracked. But they were making far too much noise…

*******

"What was that?" Mary asked.

"What was what?" Freddie said.

"Well, that noise," Mary told him, as they both cast their eyes upward at the ceiling. "It sounded like it was coming from upstairs." She stood up, eyes still on the ceiling, then turned to walk out of the sitting room, but Freddie caught her arm.

"Darling, wait!"

Mary turned to face him.

"Have I ever told you that as beautiful as you already are, you're even more so when you're expecting?" He asked gently stroking her cheek. "You're absolutely stunning, darling. Just glowing with radiant beauty." Mary smiled, but before she could say anything, they were once again interrupted by the noise. Freddie sighed to himself in aggravation.

"What is that?" Mary asked, heading for the stairs, leaving Freddie no choice but to follow along behind her.

*******

Just as Little Freddie made to hoist himself through the window, the sound of fabric ripping rent the air.

Felix snickered to himself. "I told you not to wear 'em so tight, mate."

 _Shit. Well, no time to worry about it now,_ Little Freddie thought to himself. Felix's snickering was soon cut short however, when Little Freddie's platform shoes he took to wearing sometimes, fell off whilst he was pulling himself through the window, smacking Felix directly in the face.

"Oh, son of a fucking bitch!"

*******

Mary turned to Freddie on the stairs. 

"Did you just swear?"

"Er, yeah. Sorry. I said, 'Oh, son of a fucking bitch!'...I bet it's squirrels. Up there. In the loft." Freddie said pointing upwards. "But don't worry about it, darling. I'll get Phoebe to ring someone to come round and take a look at it later. Come on, let's go back downstairs. We don't want to wake the baby after all."

But Mary continued her way upstairs.

*******

Little Freddie stuck his head out the window.

"Felix!" he called down as loud as he dare. "Sorry, mate! Are you alright?" But just then he heard footsteps on the stairs. He ducked back inside, shut the window down, pulled his shirt and trousers off, flinging them into a far corner, and leapt into bed. Covering himself with the blankets, he turned over on his side and closed his eyes, pretending he was asleep.

*******

"Are you okay, mate?" Down below, Jimmy and Robert rushed over to Felix who staggered about, his hands held to his face.

"What about Freddie's bag?" Jimmy asked, indicating Little Freddie's holdall they'd been intending to toss up to him once he'd made it inside.

"Just leave it!" Felix said with a wave of his arm. So they tossed his shoes and the bag in the bushes, hoping they'd stay hidden and that Little Freddie would know where to look to find them later.

*******

At the top of the stairs, Mary went over to Little Freddie's bedroom door. Freddie held his breath, but when she opened the door, Little Freddie lay in his bed, appearing to be deeply asleep, as if he'd been there all night. Freddie breathed a sigh of relief, but then watched as Mary quietly crossed the room, careful not to wake Little Freddie, and began opening the window.

*******

Felix looked back over his shoulder in horror when he heard the sound of the window being pushed open.

"Hit the deck!" he shouted at the others, and they all three dove to the ground.

*******

Thinking fast, Freddie rushed over and stuck his head out the window.

"You three fucking squirrels better get your arses out of here!" he shouted.

*******

"You heard the man!" Felix said to the others. "Let's get our arses out of here!" And they took off back across the lawn toward Felix's van.

*******

"Three?" Mary asked when he ducked back inside. "How do you know there are three of them?"

"Well, squirrels always run in threes, darling. Everybody knows that," Freddie told her.

"Hmm." Mary peered outside, but seeing nothing, she quietly closed the window and latched it shut.

Just then Little Freddie "woke up".

"Mum, what's the matter? Is everything alright?" he asked, sitting up.

"Yes, everything's just fine, darling," Mary told him. "We just thought we heard noises coming from upstairs, but then we thought maybe they were coming from outside. Your father seems to think we have squirrels in the loft...three of them. He's going to get Phoebe to ring someone to come round and have a look at it later."

"Oh, really? Well, I didn't hear anything," Little Freddie said innocently, and Freddie rolled his eyes behind Mary's back. Then he turned to his father. "Dad? What are you doing here?" he asked, Freddie giving him a pointed look that clearly said - _saving your arses, that's what!_

"Richard's sick," Mary said. "He woke up crying and I couldn't get him to go back down, so your father came over to give me a hand with him."

"Is he okay?" Little Freddie asked.

"Yes, darling, don't worry, he's fine," Mary said. "He just isn't feeling very well. I think he might be getting an ear infection. Like I was telling your father earlier, I noticed he was tugging on his ears yesterday and he didn't feel much like eating or drinking anything. I measured his temperature a little while ago and it was 40°C (104°F), so I gave him some medicine to bring his fever down, and he's resting comfortably now. So, when you're getting ready for school later try to not to wake him, alright?"

"Of course, Mum," Little Freddie said.

"I'm going to try to get him in to the doctor's as soon as they open," Mary told him. "Anyway, I'm sorry we woke you, darling. Lie back down now and try and get some more sleep." She leant down and kissed his cheek. Freddie came over as well.

"Sweet dreams," he said for Mary's benefit. Then he leant down and whispered just loud enough so Little Freddie could hear him, "You, me, and the other boys are all going to have a very serious sit-down talk together later. You understand?" 

Little Freddie swallowed hard and nodded his head. Freddie gave him a kiss on the cheek, and then he and Mary left, closing the door behind them. Together they walked down the stairs to the front door, Freddie having decided he'd better get home.

"I'd best be getting back over there before they all wake up and wonder where I am," he said.

"Well, thank you for coming over, darling," Mary told him. "And helping with the baby...and the squirrels."

"Of course!" Freddie said. "You know if you ever need me, darling, no matter what it is or where I happen to be, I'm only one phone call away." He smiled. "You'll let me know what the paediatrician says, huh?"

"Yes, I'll call you and let you know as soon as we get back from the doctor's," Mary told him. They kissed and then Freddie left.

*******

As intimidating as his father's threat had been, Little Freddie was completely spent, and soon fell asleep for what felt like a total of five minutes before his alarm went off at 7:30. He groaned. Then he dragged himself out of bed and into the shower hoping the cold water would wake him up. Later, once he’d got himself sorted out, and before heading downstairs, he crept into the nursery to look in on Richard, who was still sleeping easy and peaceful. He reached a hand down to stroke his head.

"I'm sorry you're not feeling well, mate," he whispered to him softly. "But don't worry, Mum'll take good care of you." He bent down to give him a kiss. "I love you. I hope you feel better soon. I'll check on you after I get back from school, alright?"

He came downstairs, and that's when he remembered – _Shit!_ _His bag and shoes from last night! They must still be outside!_ Luckily it sounded like his mum was in the kitchen making breakfast, so he eased out the front door and ran around the side of the house. He found his bag and shoes in the bushes beneath his bedroom window, then carefully crept back inside and left them upstairs in his room. Afterwards, he came back down and went into the kitchen.

“Good morning, darling!” Mary greeted him with a kiss on the cheek. “I’ve made you some breakfast.”

Little Freddie tried not to let his mother see how tired he was, but he was practically falling asleep sitting up at the table.

“I’m so sorry we woke you last night, darling,” Mary apologized again, rubbing his back. “Hopefully after school you can have a nice lie down and catch up on your sleep.”

*******

Little Freddie was quite surprised later when upon arriving at school, he and Robert were immediately called into the headmaster’s office and reprimanded for skiving off the previous day. He was certain they'd got away with it. He figured if the headmaster had found out about their skiving off, he would have phoned their parents for sure. But neither his mum nor his dad had said anything to him about it. He asked Robert and he said his parents hadn’t said anything to him about it either. _Oh, well. So much the better_ , because just as his father had been hoping, they both had the book thrown at them – quite literally.

“Take a Georgic!” the headmaster pronounced upon them the most feared of all the punishments at Eton. _The Georgics_ was a poem written by the Latin poet Virgil in 29 BCE, the subject of which was agriculture, and whose 2,1888 verses were divided into four books.

“Oh no, sir!” Little Freddie and Robert immediately began to beg, but the headmaster was unmoved by their pleas. They were assigned the third book, the longest one, which they would now have to spend all their breaks and dinner time, copying out line by line by hand in the headmaster’s office. Even so, it could have gone much worse, Little Freddie thought to himself as he and Robert sat there later copying out their lines with cramping hands. He was still thankful that the headmaster, for whatever reason, had decided to be merciful and hadn't phoned their parents, because had he done so, he would almost certainly have been out of the band for good, and sitting down comfortably while they wrote out their lines would have also more than likely been out of the question.

*******

Straightway after he got home from school, Little Freddie checked in on Richard who he was very sad to learn was suffering from a severe double ear infection. 

"Both ears?!" Freddie had exclaimed when Mary had called him as he'd requested after they got back home from the paediatrician. "Poor darling."

"I know," Mary sighed. "The doctor gave him a penicillin shot and prescribed him some liquid amoxicillin for the infection. He suggested warm compresses for the pain and Calpol for fever or another Nurofen if he can't keep the Calpol down or if his fever gets up too high again like it did this morning. But I've already given him his first dose of the amoxicillin so hopefully the infection will start clearing up and he'll start feeling better soon."

But to Freddie it sounded like the poor little bloke (and Mary) were in for a rough time of it, at least for the next little while.

Afterwards, Little Freddie rang Felix, Jimmy, and Robert on a four-way call.

"Hey! I got us another gig tonight!" Felix announced to the others as soon as he got on the phone. "Don't worry, though, it's somewhere local this time."

"Well, that's great mate," Little Freddie mumbled morosely, "but, erm...my dad says he wants to have a talk with us. I guess about what happened last night. He probably won't let me go unless we talk to him first. So...are you gonna come over?"

Felix sighed. "Yeah, mate. Might as well get it over with. We all knew it was coming anyway. See you in a bit."

*******

When they arrived, the boys stood around sheepishly in the garage, hanging their heads, hands in pockets, kicking occasionally at the dust, until Freddie came out to get them. He didn't even have to say anything, just held the door open, and they went through. He led them into the dining room where they all took a seat at the table, except himself, who remained standing, arms crossed over his chest. He looked over at Felix.

"What happened to your face?" he asked, furrowing his brow.

"Got in a fight," Felix said, holding his chin up. "You should see the other bloke."

"Yeah," Jimmy said. "He came at Felix with a left! Then a right!" He swung his arms through the air, pretending to throw punches. "...shoe that is." They all laughed...well, except Felix.

"Shut up!" Felix told them. "It's not funny!"

Little Freddie sighed. "I guess we're in big trouble, huh?"

"Well, not with me," Freddie told them to their great surprise. "I myself personally don't care how long you stay out at night. I understand how it is. You have to take gigs when and where you can get them. So long as you keep your marks up and it doesn't interfere with your schooling." Then he turned stern, threatening Little Freddie with his finger. "Which is why I’d jolly well better not get one more damn phone call from the headmaster about your playing truant, if you know what’s good for you and if you'd like to continue to be able to sit down comfortably at that piano. Hut. Because when I get through with you, your running off to play rock star is going to be the least of your concerns, I tell ya." He turned to the others. "And that last part goes for all of you. You understand?"

"Yes, sir! Yes, sir!" they answered, nodding their heads.

"And you'd better be glad it was me he called and not your mother," he added. Then he sighed. "Listen, I know it might not seem like it right now when you're young, but going to school and getting a good education is very important - even for rock stars. You know, don't let overconfidence be your downfall, as they say. I mean, you’ve got to have confidence, sure, but too much of a good thing can turn bad. I mean, your dads and I we all got our degrees first, you know, and you all would do well to do the same because there are no guarantees in this life, and it’s always sound advice to have something dependable to fall back on. You can't depend on talent alone anymore, now it’s got to be talent plus a very good business sense. Talent isn’t just about being a good musician these days - writing good songs and performing them, it’s about being aware, it’s having a business brain, because that’s a major part of it – to get the music across properly and profit from it. You use all the tricks of the trade and if you believe in yourself, you’ll go all the way. You understand what I'm saying?"

"Yes, sir," they answered again.

"I mean, you boys could be the rockingest band at Oxford," Freddie told them with a laugh.

 _Oxford?_ , the boys thought to themselves. _Psh! Yeah, right! Not a snowball's chance in hell of that happening!_ But they didn't say so out loud of course.

"Right," Freddie said. "I have just one more thing to say - I might not care how late you stay out at night, but your mother does," he addressed Little Freddie. "And if the boss catches you, there won't be anything I can do to help you...which is why you boys really to need to work on your sneaking back in, I tell ya." And they all had a good laugh. "Roger could probably teach you all a thing or two about that. One time we were playing at the Swiss Cottage Private School here in London, and Roger was having a thing with a young lady living in student accommodation in Kensington, and apparently he scaled about two or three balconies to get to her room." They all laughed again, but then Freddie became serious. "But all the other rules still stand," he told them. "So from now on, even if you're 'sneaking out', you need to at least let _me_ know where you're going, just in case anything were to ever happen, alright?"

"Okay, Dad," Little Freddie agreed, and the others all nodded.

"So, where did you boys play last night?" Freddie asked them.

"The Cavern Club in Liverpool," Felix told him.

"Oh, The Cavern Club!" Freddie said. "We played there too, you know. I remember it was pouring rain outside, and Brian's shoes got soaking wet. Before we went on, he put his shoes on an electric fire to dry off, only to find them burning after the gig! Perhaps that may have had something to do with him wearing clogs so often after that," he laughed. "And our next gig we played at Balls Park College in Hertford, and after the gig, we spoke with an employee of the college, and requested more money for our labours on the basis that we were 'more famous' now that we had played at the Cavern Club, where The Beatles played in their early days."

"Exactly! I said the same thing," Felix beamed. "Your dad's so cool, mate!" he said to Little Freddie later as they were leaving. "But I'm still a little scared of him though…"

***BONUS* If you want to see a video of Freddie playing with the real baby Richard, here is the YouTube link: https://youtu.be/yj29HmPorU0. Just be warned that Freddie looks pretty frail and sick in the video as it was about 11 months before he died.**

***Also, I don't know who these lucky little boys are in real life, but I can't help imaging them as Felix, Jimmy, and Robert when they were younger lol 😂**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Those are true stories about Roger and Brian by the way. Straight from queenlive.ca. It's a pretty cool website to check out if you are a Queen fan. It has stories and pictures from basically every single one of their live shows from all the way back in 1970 to their last concert in 1986.


	7. Secret Arrangements

The boys were practically "sneaking out" every night after that, but only when it was Little Freddie's week to stay at Freddie's house. Otherwise if he were staying at Mary's house, gigs were for Saturday nights only. And no more skiving off school, they were too scared of what Freddie might do if they were to try that again. But even when he was at Freddie's house, it wasn't all just "do as you please". There were still rules that had to be followed. They always had to tell Freddie where they were going and roughly about what time they expected to make it home.

"Right. Have you done your homework?" Freddie would ask. "Bring it here and let me have a look." So Little Freddie would bring him his homework and Freddie would look it over. Or if he was supposed to have studied for an exam, Freddie would have him bring him the study material, and he'd come up with three questions to ask him to make sure he really had studied - questions that Felix, Jimmy, and Robert were more than willing to help him answer, as Freddie soon found out on that first night.

"Let's see here now," Freddie said, flipping through the pages. Jim, sitting beside him on the sofa, leant in to have a look as well. "Who was responsible for building a large empire that ruled over much of continental Europe before its final collapse in 1815?"

"Okay, I think I know this one," Little Freddie said, trying not to let his father and Jim see him looking to where Felix, Jimmy, and Robert stood off to one side behind them out of their line of vision, helping him with the answer via a game of charades. Felix lifted his hand to his brow, saluting him like they did in the military.

"Er, he was...he was a general," Little Freddie said. The others nodded at him enthusiastically. Felix held his hand out palm facing down and lowered it to his waist. "He was short…" Then he made a rude gesture, spreading his thumb and forefinger a tiny distance apart in front of his crotch. "And he had a small dick." Felix burst out laughing silently, until Jimmy elbowed him sharply in the ribs. "I mean - a quick...temper," Little Freddie corrected himself fast, as Freddie furrowed his brow, giving him a look. As a final hint, Felix posed regally - chin up, his hand in his shirt. "And he always went about with his hand in his shirt...Oh, I know! It was Napoleon Bonaparte!" Little Freddie exclaimed at last. Just then Freddie turned to look behind him, catching Felix with his hand in his shirt, as he quickly pretended to be scratching his chest.

"What is this?" Freddie asked, and Jim couldn't help but laugh. "The three of you - over there," he told them indicating a point behind Little Freddie. With a groan they obeyed and slouched over to where they'd been told to stand. "Right," Freddie said, turning back to the papers. "That one doesn't count. You won't have the three stooges here in class with you tomorrow to give you all the answers."

"Awww, come on, Dad! I really knew that one! Honest!" Little Freddie protested. But Freddie ignored him.

"Next question. Britain ended the uneasy truce created by the Treaty of Amiens when it declared war on France in - ?"

Luckily by the skin of his teeth, Little Freddie was able to answer the next three questions his father posed him.

"Alright," Freddie said at last, handing him back the papers.

"Yes!" Little Freddie said, high-fiving with Felix and the others. He went upstairs and left the papers in his room, and when he came back downstairs again he and the others started for the front door. But Freddie stopped them.

"Ah! And just where exactly do you all think you're going?"

They all turned to look at him. "Er, to the gig," Little Freddie said.

"Oh no you jolly well aren’t! Not out the front door, you're not," Freddie told him. "Your mother could be looking over here right now. You think I'm going down with you when the boss catches you out? Hut. You must be mad," he said. "If you're going to sneak out, you're going to do it properly - out your bedroom window and then out through The Mews. And you're to sneak back in the same way."

Little Freddie and the others all grinned at each other and headed upstairs to his room.

And so, they were able to carry on that way without getting caught through all of September and October until the end part of November, when that fateful day came that their luck finally ran out...

*******

For years now, Felix had been wanting to get them a gig at The Marquee, still the most famous and important venue for any emerging British rock band, even after all these years. It had helped launch the careers of artists such as The Who, The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds, The Animals, Manfred Mann, David Bowie, Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, Cream, Led Zeppelin, Free, Yes, Genesis, Jethro Tull, Rod Stewart, and many others, including Queen themselves. It was a place of great influence, where managers and promoters and the press could see you. And Felix had finally done it. Of course their fathers could quite easily get them signed on with EMI/Capitol Records any time they pleased. But Felix and the others all felt this was something they needed to earn on their own merit, not just because of who their fathers were. So as soon as he'd secured them the gig, Felix had called up their fathers' manager, Miami, while they others crowded round.

"Hey, hey, hey, Miami, baby! What's happening?" Felix said when he came on the line.

Miami was glad Felix couldn't see him rolling his eyes through the phone. "Hello, Felix," he said. "How are you?"

"Oh, I'm just great, mate!" Felix told him.

"Wonderful," Miami said. "I take it this isn't just a social call?"

"Er, no. Not exactly." There was a pregnant pause on the other end of the line. "I've finally done it," Felix said at last, and Miami could hear the grin in his voice.

"What's that?" he asked.

"I got us a gig at The Marquee. Friday night, November 15 - 11 PM."

"Well done, Felix. Well done," Miami congratulated him. "A very important gig that is, for an up-and-coming rock band such as yourselves, as I'm sure you already know."

"Right."

"Well, I'm sure EMI and the other record companies will have their A&R men there to give you a listen. Though to be honest, it'll probably just be a formality," Miami told him. "They're all practically chomping at the bit to sign you as it is. Not a day goes by that I don't get at least three phone calls begging me to bring you boys round."

"Yeah, but we don't want that," Felix said. There was another pause.

"How do you mean?" Miami asked.

"We don't want them to sign us just because of who our dads are," Felix explained. "No. If they're going to sign us, we want it to be because they think we have real talent of our own. That's why we've always refused to do covers of Queen songs. It's like Freddie has said, we want to have our own different kind of sound separate of our fathers. We don't want to ride on their coattails or stand in their shadow our whole career. By no means do we want to be considered some sort of Queen tribute band."

"I understand that sentiment, Felix. I really do," Miami told him. "But what exactly would you have me do?"

"Well, two things," Felix said. "First of all, we'd like to ask you to be our manager. I've been handling that role for us for the past four years, getting us gigs and those sorts of things, but now it's getting to be too much for just me by myself."

 _Hmmm. Managing Queen and The Sons of Queen both at the same time? Two Freddie Mercurys, Roger Taylor, and Felix Taylor?_ A daunting task to be sure...that is, for everyone except Miami.

"Alright," he agreed. "And the second?"

"As your first job as our new manager, we want you to contact EMI on our behalf, and ask that the A&R man they send to the gig be unbiased - not a Queen fan," Felix told him. "Hell! Tell them to even send someone who hates Queen. That way if they like us and decide to sign us, we'll know we did it on our own."

Miami sighed. "You're really serious about this aren't you?"

"Yeah, we are," Felix said.

"Then you have my word, Felix," Miami told him. "I'll call them and see what I can make happen." And then they rang off.

Later that afternoon, Miami called up one of his trusted contacts at EMI - a man named Jack Jones.

"This is Jack Jones," he said when he answered the phone.

"Hello, Jack. Jim Beach here."

"Hey, Jim." He leant back in his chair, feet on his desk. "How are things your way?"

"Not bad."

"That's good," he said. "So, what can I do for you today?"

"Well, listen, Jack. I've just gotten a call from Felix Taylor."

"Felix Taylor?" He sat up, placing his feet on the floor. "Just a moment, Jim." He buzzed his secretary.

"Yes, Mr. Jones?"

"Amelia, hold my calls, please." Then he walked over and shut the door to his office, lest one of his colleagues should overhear. If anyone was going to sign The Sons of Queen, it was going to be him. "I'm here, Jim," he said when he came back on the line. 

"They've got a gig coming up at The Marquee. Friday night, November 15 - 11 PM."

"Ah, The Marquee," he said. "We've all been wondering when this day would come. Well, I'll have one of my A&W men there to check them out, but it's all really just for show. EMI's had the papers for a preliminary offer drawn up for the past four years now, I think," he laughed. "Anyway, as you know, the A&W man is authorized to offer them a deal on my behalf and get them signed. Then a few days later we can all meet here in my office and work out the details."

"Right, but you see they're not interested in that."

"Come again?" Jack said.

"I said they're not interested in that."

He gave a confused laugh. "I'm afraid I don't quite follow, Jim," he said. "So what are they interested in exactly?"

"Their fathers being who they are, it's very important to these boys that this be something they earn on their own. That's why they're requesting that the A&W man you send be somebody impartial - not a Queen fan. In fact, Felix said he would prefer it be somebody who doesn't even like Queen music, so that way, if the person thinks they're good and decides to sign them, they'll feel like they've done it themselves."

Jack laughed again. "This certainly is a first."

"I know it may sound strange," Miami said. "But I don't think you'll get them to sign otherwise."

"Well, alright," Jack said with a small sigh. "I think I know just the man for the job. I've got an A&W man who works for me named Jacob Williams. A real ray of sunshine in the music industry, that one. He's a tough, hard-faced bastard. Damn near impossible to impress, but very discerning. Thinks Queen are overrated at best. I'll send him along. If he says you're good, you're good. But I warn you - regardless of what he says, I'm probably still gonna want to sign them."

"I understand," Miami said. "You do what you can, and I'll let the boys know." 

"Ok great, Jim. Thanks again for the call," Jack told him, and then they rang off.

*******

A few days later, The Sons of Queen called their fathers together, saying they had something to tell them. But first Felix had a little surprise of his own for Little Freddie and the others. They were discussing things in Little Freddie's room, when suddenly Felix whipped out the latest edition of _Melody Maker_ , a British music magazine that hosted The Marquee's monthly itinerary of bands scheduled to play at the venue.

"Check this out, mate," he grinned, handing Little Freddie the magazine.

Little Freddie took the magazine from him and while the others gathered round, with trembling hands he turned over to the Live Ads section. And there it was. Under a heading that read: _marquee (the club) - 105 CHARING CROSS ROAD - LONDON WC2 - 071 437 6603_ , was an entry. _NOV.15.FRI - £10 ADV. - THE SONS OF QUEEN_.

"Ah, look! We're in Melody Maker and everything!" he exclaimed.

"Of course we are, mate!" Felix said, placing a hand on Little Freddie's shoulder from behind.

"Come on! Let's go show our dads!"

***

Downstairs, Freddie, Jim, Brian, and John were sat on the sofa in the sitting room drinking beer (or champagne - Moet in Freddie's case and water for Brian) and watching a rugby match, which Freddie loved because he had a good friend who was on the governing body of one of the International Rugby Associations in the UK, and as he was involved in the higher echelons of the game, he was able to fill him in on all the pros and cons. He'd even tried to arrange for Freddie to see some live matches, but Freddie always turned him down. As he'd grown older he'd become more of an armchair sportsman, as it were, and would watch on television.

"So, Freddie, any idea what this is about?" Brian asked.

"I honestly haven't the slightest idea, darling. I know just as much as you do," Freddie told him. Just then Roger walked in from the kitchen with his own beer, and sat down beside the others with a groan.

"What're we watching?" he asked, looking at the television. "Oh, rugby," he said. "You know, I never figured you being much of a rugby man, Freddie."

"Or, we could watch the Prince tape," Freddie suggested, waggling his eyebrows - an idea that was met with loud groans from the others. The infamous "Prince Tape", was a pirate copy of a live Prince concert Freddie had got hold of and almost wore it out with the constant watching, and which he forced many people to watch, sometimes over and over again. When Freddie settled down to watch the three hour tape, it could take either fifteen minutes in which they watched only Freddie’s specifically edited highlights or six hours when he would play the same bits over and over again. It was either fast forward or play it again and again and again, Sam! When the Prince tape was put on, Freddie had sole control of the remote and his guests were subjected to Freddie’s enthusiasm for said artist again and again and again. Phoebe himself had thus far, by some miracle, avoided ever actually seeing it but the sound of it would haunt him for years to come! He was lucky in that he had the excuse of constantly getting drinks for the guests which kept him out of the sitting room.

"Rugby it is, mate," Roger said with a sigh. So they sat watching, nursing their drinks.

"Aw, did ya see that?!" Freddie was saying to the others. "I tell ya Liverpool-" when finally Little Freddie and the others came in.

"We have an announcement. Two actually," Felix said. "First - we called and talked with Miami a few days ago, and he's agreed to manage us. It's like I was telling Miami - I've been handling that role for us for the past four years, getting us gigs and those sorts of things, but now it's getting to be too much for just me by myself."

"That seems very wise," Brian said. "Miami's somebody we all know and trust. And he's done nothing but good things for us. I think it's safe to say we wouldn't have made it where we are today without him." The others nodded their heads in agreement.

"When you're starting off, guidance and good management is vital," Freddie added. "You need a few key people to understand you and to gain your confidence so that you can work properly. And one of them, at least as far as we're concerned, is Miami."

The boys nodded their heads.

"So what's the second announcement?" Freddie asked.

Felix nudged Little Freddie's shoulder. "Show him, Freddie."

So Little Freddie walked over and handed his father the magazine, opened to The Marquee's list of scheduled artists. Brian, Roger, John, and Jim leant in as Freddie studied the page for a moment, brow furrowed. Then he looked up.

"You're playing at The Marquee?" he asked.

"Finally!" Felix said.

"Felix has been trying to get us a gig there for ages," Jimmy added.

Their fathers, Jim, and Phoebe and Joe, who had come in to see what the commotion was about, all congratulated them.

"Alright! That's my boy!" Freddie said, standing up and punching Little Freddie playfully on the shoulder. Then he drew him in for a hug. But then he saw the other boys just standing there. "I meant - Those are my boys! Yes," he corrected himself, opening his arms wider to take the others in.

"All of our boys," Brian said, standing up and joining in the group hug. Roger and John came over as well.

"The Marquee's an important one," Freddie told them when they finally separated. "The press and all the biggies from the record companies will be there checking you out."

"You know, I think we played there about three times ourselves," Brian said. "Of course, that was at the original location over on Oxford Street. I remember the first time we played there we were so excited because we got to contribute to the wall in the dressing room that had been signed by thousands of other musicians who had played there. And the second time we played there, our old manager Norman Sheffield at Trident-"

"Bastard!" Freddie and Roger said together.

"Anyway," Brian continued. "He had given the president of Elektra records our demo of _Keep Yourself Alive_ , and he came to the show and decided to sign us to Elektra shortly thereafter. And the third time was right after our first album _Queen_ and _Keep Yourself Alive_ were released and we played there supporting a band called Sparks. We started touring with Mott The Hoople after that." He sighed. "Well, I'm sure we'd all dearly love to come," he said. "But we know this is something you boys are trying to do on your own."

"Yeah," Felix said. "That's why we had Miami call and talk to EMI and tell them that we don't want the A&R man they send to be a Queen fan. In fact that we'd prefer it to be somebody who hates Queen even. So that way, if they decide to sign us, we'll know it's not because we sound like Queen."

"How's that going to help you, darling?" Freddie asked, brow furrowed. "Somebody who hates Queen? Hut. Then they've no taste in music at all, dear." Everyone laughed. "No, to be honest I think it's very smart what you're doing," he continued. "But it's always been that way, you know. When everybody starts off they get a label. Journalists try and put you in a compartment and label you. With any band that starts, they say they sound a little bit like this group or that artist, or whatever. We were always being compared to other groups. They said we sounded a little bit like Led Zeppelin, because we had harmonies and things, and so they put us in that sort of category. Subconsciously, I think we actually connected our energetic stage act more with The Who than anyone else. But the whole point is that, just like you, we wanted to be different - yet we were labelled so many different things. Labels are as bad as they are good, and if you take them seriously you’d be very silly. I didn't care what they said, really. And neither should you. I think people have said things about us and then changed their minds after listening to an album. In the end, we had our own stamp – we had the Queen stamp. We had our trademark. And it'll be the same way with you."

"Besides there'll be other shows for us to come to," Roger said. "Even bigger than this one."

"Right," John agreed.

"And we'd all better get seats in the VIP area. With huge silver ice bucket with bottles of Cristal and everything," Freddie added, and they all laughed.

"Sure, Dad. Anything you want," Little Freddie smiled. "But there is somebody else I'd like to invite." Little Freddie turned to Jim. "Jim, these past six years you've been like a second father to me. You're my Papa. And I want you come."

"As our guest of honor," Felix added, putting an arm around Little Freddie's shoulders.

Jim was nearly struck speechless for a moment. "O-of course, Freddie. I-I'd love to," he managed to say, his face breaking out into a smile.

Then Little Freddie turned to Phoebe and Joe. "Phoebe, Joe, you too," he said. "That is if you want to." They both turned to look at Freddie.

Freddie nodded his head. "I'm sure Kashmira and I can manage to look after ourselves for one night," he said. "But there's one condition...Since Brian, Roger, John, and I can't go, one of you have to take my video camera with you and record the show for us."

Phoebe and Joe both eagerly agreed.

"Right, I have just one more thing to say now that we're all here together," Freddie said. Then he turned to Little Freddie. "I know I've said this before, but I want to make it absolutely clear that in no way do I or any of the others condone or support your sneaking out. Just because you're not going to be in trouble with me about it, doesn't make it right. I know and you know and all the other boys know that it's breaking the rules of the contract you signed with your mother so that you could join the band. It's just that I understand why you're doing it, and I think you're old enough now to make your own decisions. But all decisions have consequences - whether good or bad. So you'd damn well better make sure that the reward outweighs the risk." He addressed the other boys as well. "I know Freddie's the one who signed the contract, but it goes for all of you, really. Because if Mary finds out that Freddie's been sneaking out, she's going to be very angry and upset, and rightfully so, and she'll make sure the punishment hurts all of you - not just him."

"I don't think your mum would be too happy if she found out about it either," John said to Robert.

The boys just stood there sort of hanging their heads.

"Now don't misunderstand. I'm not trying to tell you not to take risks," Freddie went on. "Sometimes you have to be willing to take risks, especially in the industry that we're in. You'll find that you're met with a lot of that, not just in the business, but life in general. And there'll always be situations where you have to make difficult decisions. But you have to be willing to take responsibility for your decisions and accept the consequences. That's part of growing up and becoming a man."

The boys stared back at him, nodding their heads.

"I'm just saying you need to take things seriously and give them the proper consideration," he continued. "I was just lucky enough to have Brian, Roger, and John to remind me of that sometimes, even if I didn't always listen."

Brian smiled quietly at Roger and John.

"Otherwise, all the things I've done in my lifetime-" Freddie shook his head. "I'd be dead by now, I tell ya." He stared off, thinking again about the dreams he'd been having lately. But then he snapped out of it and laughed to cover it. He turned to look at Brian and the others. "But no matter what, they were always there for me. Even when I messed up and made bad mistakes, or was just being a total arsehole and didn't deserve it, they always had my back."

"Just like you boys will for each other," Brian told them. "And so will we."

"Anyway, enough of all that!" Freddie said like he always did when things were getting too emotional or heavy. He leaned in conspiratorially towards the boys. "Have I ever told you about the time Brian went out partying late one night with Eddie Van Halen?"

The boys gasped. "What?! You partied with Eddie Van Halen?! Oh my God, that's so cool!"

Freddie turned to Brian. "It was in Portland, wasn't it, Brian?"

"Hmmm, you know, I'm not sure I recall…," Brian said.

"Yes, it was Portland," Roger put in. "1982 to be exact. I remember we were staying in the same hotel as they were."

"Thanks, Rog," Brian said sarcastically. 

"Sure, mate, anytime," Roger grinned as John chuckled.

"Yes, yes. But the funny part came afterwards," Freddie told them, already struggling to hold back his laughter. "Afterwards-"

"I don't think the boys would really be interested in hearing about that," Brian interrupted, shaking his head dismissively.

"Oh yes we would!" Jimmy said.

"Everyone always made out that I was the wild one and they were all quiet," Freddie told them. "But it's not true. I've got some wild stories about Mr. Brian May here you wouldn't believe!"

"Oh, okay, you know what? Actually, I think I would like to watch the Prince tape...again...," Brian said, ignoring the protests of the others. "So why don't you put it on? Unless you also want the boys to find out about the time you and Roger-"

"Hey!" Roger interjected.

But at the very mention of The Prince Tape Freddie had already gone to retrieve it.

*******

So, Little Freddie and the others took his father's words to heart and sat down to talk things over.

"Okay, let's see here, now," Felix said, smoothing the contract that Little Freddie had taken from his wallet, out on the table. "If we were to get caught, it looks like you'd be in violation of numbers 1, 2, 4, 6, and 9." 

"So basically the whole contract then," Jimmy said looking over Felix's shoulder.

Felix skipped down to the "consequences" section. "Failure to comply with any of the above stipulations may result in disciplinary action including but not limited to," he read aloud, "-assignment of extra chores, being placed on restriction/punishment (grounded), loss of privileges, and/or immediate and permanent removal from the band." He scoffed at the last one. "Yeah, right. Like your dad's ever gonna let that happen." He handed the contract back to Little Freddie who immediately began folding it back up. "Alright, so at worst you'd be grounded, no car, no phone, no television for a week. Maybe a few extra chores thrown in." He shrugged. "Anything you can't handle, mate?" He looked at Little Freddie.

Little Freddie just shook his head as he placed the contract back in his wallet.

"Robert, what about you?" Felix asked.

"I'd probably get about the same," Robert said.

Felix nodded. "I mean, sure, we'd miss out on a week of gigs and all, but so what? None of them'd be as big as The Marquee," he said. "Besides, I've been after needing myself a break." He leant back, hands behind his head. "What do you say, Jimmy?"

"I'd say as long as Freddie and Robert are okay with it, then let's do it!" Jimmy replied, high-fiving Felix. 

"Alright, then," Felix said.

And so, it was decided that in _this_ case, the reward did outweigh the risk of their being caught, and the gig was allowed to go ahead. But, as luck would have it, the next Monday at school the teachers in every single one of Little Freddie's classes, set an important exam for Saturday, the day after the show. He went to Felix about it, but he knew it was useless before he even opened his mouth.

"You don't suppose there's any way we could switch with one of the other groups, do you?" he asked.

"No way, mate!" Felix said. "Not unless you want to play on a fuckin' Monday night. And if that's the case, I'd rather just forget it. Who do you know goes to the club at 11:00 on a Monday night? It took me forever to get the Friday slot we have now. Nobody in their right mind's gonna give up their Saturday or Sunday spot. Besides, even if by some miracle somebody with a Saturday or Sunday spot was willing to switch with us, it's already been run in the magazine as the 15th, and there'd be a lot of pissed off people if they showed up and it was the wrong band playing."

"I know, I know. You're right, mate. But I just had to ask." Little Freddie sighed. "Alright, but as soon as the show's over I have to come straight home," he said.

"Of course, mate!" Felix clasped his hand in agreement. "100% agree. As soon as the show's over we'll get you straight home so you can get some rest," he said - a promise he'd been intending to keep…

So Little Freddie studied hard over the next week. But the following week, the week leading up to the show, was his, Kashmira, and Richard's week at Freddie's house. (Since the very beginning, Richard had always come along with Little Freddie and Kashmira when it was their week at Freddie’s house, as Freddie would have it no other way.)

"Don't forget to study for your exams, Freddie," his mother told him as she kissed him goodbye.

"Alright, Mum, I will," he told her. And he did...in between sneaking out for gigs and practicing for The Marquee with Felix and the others, which didn't leave him much time, but he was doing the best he could...leastways that's what he told himself.

Now with the show fast approaching, there was only one more thing he needed to do. He told his girlfriend Mary about the show and asked her to come.

"Oh, I don't know, Freddie. I don't know if my parents would let me," she said, looking down sadly. But Little Freddie took her hand.

"Then we'll ask them together. Come on."

They went into the sitting room where both her parents were sat on the sofa watching telly.

"Mr. and Mrs. Smith," Little Freddie said, "I've got a big show, a really important one, coming up at The Marquee on Friday night, and I was wondering if Mary could come."

"What time?" asked Mr. Smith, a rather tough, manly, intimidating Englishman.

"From 11 to 12," Little Freddie told him. "I know you like Mary to be home by 12, but I give you my word, as a man, that she'll be completely safe the entire time, and I won't let any harm come to her. My Papa Jim will be there. Phoebe and Liza, too. Mary can sit with them during the show, and as soon as the show's over, I promise I'll bring her straight home."

Mr. Smith looked over at his wife, then turned back to Little Freddie.

"Alright, Freddie," he said. "It's a deal." He held out his hand and Little Freddie shook it.

"Thank you, sir. I really appreciate you letting her come." Then he smiled down at Mary and gave her a kiss.

*******

The day before the show, Freddie received a call.

"It's Ratty for you," Phoebe told him when he brought him the phone.

"Ratty, darling," Freddie said, taking the phone from Phoebe.

"Don't 'Ratty, darling' me, Fred," Ratty said when he came on the line. "What's the big idea?"

"What do you mean, darling?" Freddie asked, completely confused. "What's the big idea about what?"

"Why didn't you tell us Freddie and the other boys are playing at The Marquee?" Ratty demanded.

"Oh, that," Freddie said. "Sorry, dear. I just didn't think-"

"Yeah, well, you thought wrong," Ratty told him. "Brian mentioned it to Jobby. He also said the four of you aren't going because this is something the boys want to 'do on their own'. But somebody has to look out for those boys and make sure they stay out of trouble, and don't get had or taken for a ride by the record companies. So, Crystal, Jobby, and I are going! And that's final!" And before Freddie could say anything, Ratty rang off.

Freddie just stood there, still holding the phone to his ear. "Wonderful, darling! I'm sure Freddie and the other boys will be absolutely thrilled!" he said, and then pretended to ring off before handing the phone back to Phoebe. But he couldn't help but smile to himself. It comforted him to know that if something were to ever happen to him, Freddie would have so many people who cared about him and would look after him. And just like that, he was thinking again about those terrible dreams he'd been having lately, which just seemed to be getting worse and worse every night. Then he shook his head. _Stop it, Freddie! Nothing at all is going to happen to you. This is getting a bit ridiculous now. They're just dreams_ , he scolded himself, and he did his best to shake the thoughts from his mind and continue on with his day.

For his part, Freddie had also been making big plans for the special night for him and Kashmira (who was now eleven-years-old). Since it would just be the two of them (Richard would have already had his dinner and bath and be in bed asleep), which almost never happened, with Phoebe and Joe's help he'd arranged for the perfect Daddy-daughter date night at home. Now all that was left to do was ask Kashmira. So, the night before the show, Freddie went upstairs and knocked politely at her bedroom door, then stood there hands in pockets. Kashmira soon came to the door.

"Hey, Daddy," she beamed.

"Hey," Freddie said. "I wanted to ask you something. I don't know if you know or not, but I've given Phoebe and Liza the night off tomorrow. They're going out with Papa Jim. And since it'll just be the two of us after Richard's gone to bed-"

"Where will Freddie be?" Kashmira asked.

"Oh, uh...he'll probably just be upstairs in his room studying or whatever," Freddie said dismissively with a wave of his hand. "Or looking at those girly magazines he thinks I don't know about." Kashmira giggled. "Anyway, what I wanted to ask is...if you'd like to have a date night with me here at home."

Kashmira's eyes lit up. "A date night, really?!"

"Yes. A Night Out In Italy. Just the two of us," Freddie said. "What do you think?"

Kashmira, who it seemed was lost for words, squealed with excitement and hugged him tight.

"So, I guess that's a yes, then?" Freddie asked.

Kashmira pulled back and nodded her head.

"Great! Then I'll pick you up here tomorrow night at 8," Freddie said, and he leant down and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"So?" Phoebe and Liza asked as Freddie was coming back down the stairs.

"She said yes," Freddie told them. They both made a big show of congratulating him and Freddie laughed.

 ***BONUS*** If you want to find out what happened to Brian after his wild night of partying with Eddie Van Halen, here is a [link](https://books.google.com/books?id=Fya3DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT136&dq=Brian+Van+Halen+queen+unseen&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj1yKG6ievqAhUJKKwKHZIDBG0Q6AEIKDAA#v=onepage&q=Brian%20Van%20Halen%20queen%20unseen&f=false). It's an excerpt from Ratty's book - Queen Unseen. Another excellent read.


	8. Busted!

**Friday, November 15, 1991, 8 P.M. – Kensington, London, England**

Finally, the big night had arrived.

"Your and Kashmira's dinner is in the oven," Phoebe told Freddie as he, Joe, and Jim were leaving, making sure they took the video camera with them.

Freddie stopped Little Freddie and the others on the stairs. "Good luck to you," he told them. "Be careful and be safe, alright?” He put his arms around them.

"Alright, Dad. You know we will," Little Freddie said.

“And be sure and take care of Mary, huh? You know how drunk people can be,” Freddie advised him.

“Huh. You don’t have to worry about that,” Felix assured him when they pulled apart. “If anybody were to try anything with Mary they’d have to get through us first. All of us.” The other boys nodded their heads solemnly in agreement.

When they reached Felix's van they turned on the radio which had become something of an oracle for them. Kansas' [Carry On Wayward Son](https://youtu.be/2X_2IdybTV0) was playing, so it seemed the gods of rock n' roll gave their blessing to their little venture.

"Yeah, alright!" Felix turned up the volume and put the van in drive. Then they were on their way. But first they had to go to Wimbledon to pick up Mary. She stood watching out the sitting room window. When Felix pulled up, he honked the horn twice and flashed the lights.

"Freddie's here!" Mary called to her parents. "Bye mum! Bye dad! See you later!" 

When she reached the van Little Freddie slid the door open for her.

"Well if it isn't Mary, my favorite little groupie," Felix said as Little Freddie helped her climb inside and then shut the door.

"Your favorite groupie, Felix?" Mary asked. "More like your only groupie."

"Oh-ho!" Little Freddie and the others laughed.

"Yeah, yeah, shut up," Felix said good-naturedly as he put the van in drive again and they headed back towards London. Little Freddie gave Mary a kiss and put his arm around her, pulling her close.

And as they were pulling into the car park at The Marquee, AC/DC’s [For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsaTFcXVCNU) came on the radio. Another sign of approval from above? It seemed so, at least that’s the way Little Freddie and the others were going to take it, and they grinned at each other as Felix cut the engine and the lights. Little Freddie took Mary by the hand and led her inside to where Phoebe, Joe, and Jim had already arrived. 

“Good luck,” she told him, and with a final kiss goodbye, he entrusted her into the care of Phoebe, Joe, and Jim, and went back to help Felix and the others get their equipment and instruments unloaded and set up. That’s when Ratty, Crystal, and Jobby showed up. 

“Oh, hey there, Mr. Hince, Mr. Taylor, Mr. Zellis,” Little Freddie greeted them, ever polite as Freddie had taught him.

“Ugh, Mr. Hince,” Ratty groaned, rolling his eyes. “I don’t know why your dad makes you call me that, Fred. I mean, honestly. Ratty is fine. In fact, that’s the way I prefer it.” They watched the boys working for a moment. “So uh, you boys still unloading and setting up your own equipment, then?” he asked.

“Yeah, mate,” Felix answered, voice strained as he and Little Freddie squatted to pick up one of the amps.

“Well, I reckon The Sons of Queen will be needing their own roadie soon,” Ratty told him. “I might know a kid who could help you out. Name’s Charlie.”

“Yeah, alright,” Felix agreed. “We could use another bloke. This shit’s heavy, mate.” 

“Hey, Charlie!” Ratty put his fingers in his mouth and whistled. Shortly Charlie appeared, but _he_ wasn’t a bloke at all. No, as it turned out _she_ was a ratherly, um, “big girl”; large-boned and tall (the top of Ratty's head was just level with her shoulders), with long, silky dark-brown hair; blue eyes, pretty in the face and her makeup was perfect. She was dressed casually in jeans, a t-shirt, and a jacket.

"Hi," she waved shyly and smiled, revealing the pink and purple braces on her teeth.

“No! No way!” Felix objected immediately, abruptly setting down his end of the amp, almost causing Little Freddie to drop his. But then he immediately softened his tone. “No offense, mate…and uh… _miss_ ,” he said to Ratty and Charlie, “but we can’t be having no girl as our roadie!”

Without a word, Charlie walked over and dead-lifted the amp Felix and Little Freddie had been struggling to carry between the two of them.

“Or, maybe we could,” Felix quickly changed his tune, as the other boys looked on open-mouthed and Crystal and Jobby snickered.

Ratty came and put his arm around Charlie. “Takes after her dad,” he said proudly.

“S-she’s your daughter?” Jimmy stammered. 

“Yeah, that’s right. She’s mine,” Ratty told him, still beaming. “Least one of the ones I know about.” It was no secret that Ratty had gotten laid just as much, if not more, than Freddie and the others. Being one of Queen’s roadies had its advantages, not the least of which included exchanging exclusive backstage passes for certain _favors_ with the ladies. He probably had kids in cities all across the world.

“What do you think, Freddie? Jimmy?” Felix turned to Little Freddie and Jimmy who both gave nods of approval.

“Sure,” Jimmy said. “Welcome aboard, Charlie.” He held a hand out to Charlie, who crushed it in her grasp. Jimmy could have sworn he heard the bones crunch. “Ow,” he whimpered quietly to himself, covering it with a smile and a chuckle, as he took back his hand, thankful at least it wasn’t his playing hand.

“Robert?” Felix asked, looking over his shoulder.

“I think she’s beautiful…,” Robert answered dreamily, as everyone turned to stare at him.

“Hey! Don’t go getting no ideas! She’s a good girl,” Ratty warned protectively, jabbing a finger at Robert. “Anyway, you boys go on ahead,” he said. “Charlie, Crystal, Jobby, and I, we’ve got this.”

"Really? You sure, mate?" Felix asked.

“Yeah, of course,” Ratty answered him. “Besides, it’ll give me a chance to show Charlie the ropes.”

“Alright, cool. Thanks, mate.” Felix clasped his hand in a show of thanks. Jimmy thanked them all as well, safely skipping the handshake with Charlie this time for a fist bump instead, while Robert took overly long with his handshake – a pain that hurt so good.

“Ahem,” Ratty cleared his throat, it apparently having gone on too long for his liking. Finally, Jimmy intervened and pulled him away.

“Bye,” Robert said, looking over his shoulder as Jimmy steered him by the shoulders towards the door.

Charlie just giggled and gave a tiny wave in reply.

Little Freddie stepped up and shook Crystal, Jobby, and Ratty’s hands as well. “Thank you, Mr. Hin- I mean, Ratty,” he corrected himself, “Charlie.” He placed his hand on her arm. “We really appreciate it.” And Ratty was once again struck by how well-mannered, sensitive, and caring he was – so unusual for a rock star, let alone a seven-teen-year old one. If there was one thing Freddie had done, it was raise the boy right.

*******

Meanwhile back at Garden Lodge, as soon as everyone had left for the evening, Freddie went upstairs and looked in on Richard who had just fallen asleep, the went and knocked at Kashmira’s bedroom door. 

“Ready?” he asked when she came to the door. But she gasped.

“I’ve got to change my dress!” And she promptly shut the door.

“Right. I’ll just…wait downstairs,” Freddie said, though he thought the red dress she had on now would have been fine (he himself was wearing a nice white shirt and white jeans). So, he went downstairs to the sitting room and sat down on the sofa, turning the television on to BBC Two England, which just so happened to be showing a programme on cats:

**_20.00 Cats_ **

_First in a five-part series I about that enigmatic, inscrutable and lovable creature, the cat, the animal kingdom's ultimate survivor. Worshipped as a god, and condemned as a devil, the cat is now about to become the world's most popular pet._

_Felines and Pharaohs. The domestic cat had its origins in ancient Egypt. But how did it become domesticated and who were its ancestors?_

_Producer Dick Meadows_

_Hmmm…well, this should hold his interest long enough for Kashmira to get ready anyway._

As soon as Delilah and the other cats heard the sound of meowing coming from the television, they rushed in and sat mesmerized by the image of the other cats on the screen. Freddie, and the cats, sat watching for about twenty minutes, until Kashmira finally came down the stairs. But halfway down she stopped and gasped again.

“My earrings!” And she rushed back upstairs.

Freddie sighed and turned back towards the television. _Well, she certainly had the “make your date wait” part down that all women seemingly learned._ Another ten minutes later, and Kashmira came down again, wearing a yellow dress and shawl with matching yellow earrings. Freddie turned to look at her.

“Awww!” He switched off the television and came over to her. “You look wonderful, sweetheart,” he said. Then he handed her a rose, all the thorns having been removed first of course, and leant down and kissed her cheek. “I’ve got the most beautiful daughter in the whole world,” he told her, his palm against her cheek as Kashmira smiled. Then he gave her a wink and offered her his arm. “Shall we?” 

They went on into the dining room which had been set up like a table at a fancy five-star restaurant fully laid two, complete with lit candelabra and flowers in a vase with water. A place card in fancy lettering read: _Ristorante Fanelli e Freestone_ , at which Freddie and Kashmira had a good laugh. Kashmira herself put on oven mitts and retrieved their dinner from the oven.

“Dinner is served,” she said as she set Freddie’s plate down in front of him. Tonight’s dinner was an original dish Phoebe and Joe had invented together – a tricolor pasta in colors that mimicked the Italian flag – green spinach, white, and red tomato, and each one covered in a different sauce – a smoked salmon, cheese, and cream sauce for the white; an ordinary _bolognaise_ sauce for the green; and a _prima vera_ sauce with baby vegetables, carrots, sweet-corn, and mangetout for the red. And it was absolutely delicious. They sat eating for a few moments, when Kashmira decided she’d like some tea with her dinner (Freddie of course was drinking champagne – Cristal tonight since it was a special occasion). Thankfully Phoebe had thought to make some tea beforehand. Kashmira went into the kitchen and soon returned with the kettle and a glass of ice.

“What are you doing?” Freddie asked, then looked on in horror as she poured the hot tea over the ice!

“I like having my tea the American way,” Kashmira, who’d recently become obsessed with all things American, told him as she continued to pour. When she’d finished, she handed the glass to Freddie. “Here, you try it.” He took a drink to make her happy, but quickly decided that while there were a great many things he loved about America, cold tea was not one of them! Then Kashmira thought she’d like to try the champagne.

“Can I try yours?” she asked.

“Alright,” Freddie agreed. “But just a sip.” She took a sip and Freddie laughed at the face she pulled. So they both came to the conclusion that it was probably best they stick to their respective drinks. After dinner, Kashmira cleared their plates away, placing them in the sink in the kitchen. Then they returned to the sitting room, where on the coffee table atop a stack of VHS tapes lay another place card saying:

_Teatro Mercurio_

_Friday, November 15, 1991_

_Now Showing:_

_A Day At The Races_

_A Night At The Opera_

_Imitation Of Life_

_Some Like It Hot_

_The Women_

"You pick," Freddie said as they looked over the selection together. Kashmira shared her father's love of old movies and thus selected _Imitation Of Life_ , a film they both adored. She put it on and when she returned to the sofa, Freddie put his arm around her and gave her a kiss on the head. A few minutes into the movie, Kashmira turned to her father.

"Daddy," she said.

"Hmmm?" Freddie asked, eyes still on the screen.

"Do you know what I wish we could do?"

"What's that, darling?" He looked over at her.

"I wish we could paint our nails like when I was little," Kashmira said, playing with a piece of her hair.

"Well, I don't see why not," Freddie told her.

Kashmira's eyes lit up. "Really?"

"Really," Freddie said. "You go and choose me a good colour, huh? But just be careful that you don't wake Richard." Kashmira ran to her room and soon returned with several bottles of Miners nail polish and other essentials which she set out on the table.

"I chose yellow for you because I know it's your favourite," she told him, as she dampened a cotton ball with rubbing alcohol. "It's my favourite, too," she smiled, taking his hand and beginning to clean his nails. "And it'll bring out your eyes." Once that was accomplished, she held up the two bottles of nail polish. "Do you want with sparkles or without sparkles?"

"With sparkles, of course," Freddie told her. And so with the movie playing in the background, they sat and painted each other's nails. Soon it was just like old times between them, with lots of giggles and laughter, like when they used to play dress up together and have tea parties with her dollies, though Kashmira considered herself far too grown-up for those sorts of things now. Even the cats got in on the action, with several different colours - all non-toxic and safe for pets, obviously. Freddie smiled on at her affectionately, as she chattered away to him about this and that while he held the cats, and she painted their nails. But just then a phone call from Mary came through, interrupting their fun…

*******

Over at her house, Mary, now six months pregnant, was doing a little tidying up. She went into Little Freddie's room to get his laundry.

"Freddie…," she sighed, seeing all the clothes scattered across his floor. Now Little Freddie was _supposed_ to do his own laundry or at least put it in the bin, but like with most teenage boys, it just ended up on his bedroom floor, because apparently walking the few steps it took to get to the bin was just too difficult. At first Mary had firmly decided not to pick up his clothes for him, as surely he would learn his lesson when he ran out of clean clothes and didn't have anything to wear. But no. It was a losing battle, as Little Freddie would just pick out his "cleanest dirty clothes" from the floor and put them on. Living with a teenage boy wasn't easy, and sometimes Mary felt like going mad and tearing her hair out, but he was still her baby. And sometimes at night she would look in on him while he was sleeping, and as she stroked his hair ever so gently so as not to wake him, her heart would nearly burst with how much she loved him. She smiled to herself at the thought, and bent down to pick up a blue and white striped polo shirt from the floor, accidentally picking up a magazine along with it, which she dropped. She picked it back up and made to set it on his bedside table, but as she did, that's when something on the page caught her eye. Little Freddie had been intending to put the _Melody Maker_ magazine beneath his mattress where he kept his dirty girl magazines, but feeling lazy, he'd simply dropped it beside his bed instead, thinking he'd do it later. And when he'd taken off his shirt and it had fallen on top of the magazine, hiding it from view, he'd quite forgotten all about it. Mary turned back to have a closer look at the page. As luck would have it, when she'd dropped the magazine, it had fallen open directly to the Live Ads section. And that's when she saw it: 

_marquee (the club) - 105 CHARING CROSS ROAD - LONDON WC2 - 071 437 6603 - NOV.15.FRI - £10 ADV. - THE SONS OF QUEEN._

*******

"Hello," Freddie answered the phone while Kashmira listened in from the sofa.

"Yes, hello, darling," Mary said when he came on the line. "Could I speak to Freddie for a moment please?"

"You-you want to talk to Freddie?" Freddie asked.

"Yes, please," Mary said. "He is there isn't he?"

"Well, as far as I know he is, darling," Freddie told her, trying to keep his voice as casual as possible. "He went up to his room about an hour and a half ago and that's the last I've seen of him. I think he must have already gone to bed for the night."

"Really? So soon?" Mary asked.

"The last few nights he’s been turning in early saying he's really tired. I know he's been studying really hard for all his exams he's got coming up tomorrow," Freddie explained, he hoped convincingly.

"Hmmm. Well, could you wake him up please?" Mary asked.

"Wake-wake him up?" Freddie said.

"Yes, I really need to speak him. It's very important," Mary told him.

"One minute." Freddie hesitated a moment, trying to think of something, anything. But with no other recourse, he headed upstairs to Little Freddie's room, praying all the way that by some miracle he really would be in his room, that perhaps he'd forgotten something and had to come back to get it. Kashmira followed close behind him. Freddie knocked at his bedroom door. "Freddie? Freddie, your mum's on the phone. She wants to talk to you," he said for Kashmira's benefit. No answer. He knocked at the door again. "Freddie?" Still nothing. He tried one last time. "Freddie?..." He slowly opened the door and of course the room was empty, the curtains gently blowing in the breeze coming through the slightly raised window.

“Oooh!” Kashmira gasped, standing beside her father. “Freddie’s gonna be in so much trouble!”

“Well?” Mary asked when Freddie came back on the phone.

Freddie sighed. “He’s not here,” he admitted at last.

“What do you mean he’s not there?” Mary said.

“It looks like he must have snuck out with Felix and the other boys,” Freddie told her, then held the phone away from his ear as Mary screeched into the receiver. 

“FREDDIEEE MERCURYYY!”


	9. Mama I'm Gonna Misbehave All Night Long

**Meanwhile across town…**

"What?" Little Freddie asked the others as he came out of the dressing room and into the backstage corridor where they stood waiting.

“Nobody said anything, mate,” Felix told him.

Little Freddie looked confused. ‘You didn’t just call me?”

The others looked at each other and shook their heads. “No.”

“Hmmm. I could have sworn I heard somebody call my name just now,” Little Freddie said to them.

“I didn’t hear anything, mate,” Jimmy said.

Felix looked around at the others. “Are we ready to go and do this?”

“Yeah, let’s do it,” Little Freddie said with a wink, exuding complete calm and confidence. That was one thing the others really appreciated about Little Freddie. While he too surely must have been nervous inside, he never let it show, and his outward composure and conviction always helped put them at ease and quell their anxiety and fears. And while he would never consider himself the leader of the group (if anything he felt that would be Felix), still he felt it his duty as the frontman and figurehead, as it were, to “lead” the group, and one way to do that was by demonstrating self-assurance and keeping his cool before and during a show.

They made their way to the wings, where Charlie and Ratty put Jimmy’s guitar and Robert’s bass on them (Ratty made sure he was the one to put on Robert’s). Felix bounced on the balls of his feet, rolling his neck and shoulders from side to side like a boxer before a fight, constantly twirling his drumsticks in his hands to warm up his wrists and keep them flexible. Jimmy paced nervously up and down, peeking occasionally past the curtain at the waiting audience. And Robert…well Robert just had eyes for Charlie.

Finally, they were given their cue and took their places on stage, launching straightway into their first song of the set _The Sons of Queen_ , which Little Freddie had penned himself:

_Using what our daddies gave us to make our dough_

_Yeah, we’re really gonna put on a show_

_When they see us up on stage, you know all them little girlies gonna sigh_

_Make their mamas break down and cry_

_Saying: Stay at home, sugar, those are some bad, bad boys_

_Well, that’s right, honey! Stay at home and listen to your mama now. Don’t you know who we are?_

_We are The Sons of Queen_

_Like nothing you ain’t ever seen_

_‘Cause baby it’s time to de-stress_

_Maybe even undress_

_If you know what I mean_

_Wanna hear you scream!_ (They hadn’t yet added in the _Oh, Freddie!!!_ bit)

Afterwards, Little Freddie ran a hand through his hair and came to the front of the stage to address the audience. 

“Yeah! Go, Fred!” Ratty, Crystal, and Jobby called out from their places in the audience.

“Hey! Hey! Hey! Hello, London!” Little Freddie said. “Thank you for having us here at The Marquee. It’s really nice to be here tonight.” The crowd cheered their approval. “Alright, you wanna do this, huh?” he asked to more shouts from the audience. “Okay, let’s go!”

Next came _Bad To The Bone_. “... _I wanna be yours pretty baby, yours and yours alone. I'm here to tell ya honey, that I'm bad to the bone..._ ,” Little Freddie sang, winking at Mary, who sat in the back with Phoebe, Joe, and Jim. 

Then _Centerfold_. “... _Years go by I'm lookin' through a girly magazine-_ ” Little Freddie picked up a _Playboy_ magazine that had been placed onstage beforehand and opened it to the centerfold. “- _and there's my homeroom angel on the pages in-between._ ” He held it up, waggling his eyebrows, and the men in the audience howled in appreciation. Then he threw it out in the crowd. " _My blood runs cold. My memory has just been sold. My angel is the centerfold. Angel is the centerfold!..._ "

After that they did _House Of The Rising Sun_ (an audience favourite because of the way Little Freddie sang it so deeply and powerfully), _Keep Your Hands To Yourself_ , _Magic Carpet Ride_ , and _Mary Jane’s Last Dance_.

Now half-way through the show and soaking with sweat, Little Freddie took his shirt off while the girls screamed, then threw it out into the audience also. But far from being jealous, Mary actually enjoyed seeing the girls go for Little Freddie. She knew she didn’t have anything to worry about. He was hers and she had the same kind of feeling that Jim did when he saw Freddie perform on stage, “That’s my man!”

Next was _Roxanne_ (which they played bathed in a dim red light for effect) and _Smokin’ In The Boys Room_.

Little Freddie bummed a fag from a girl down front, which he then lit with a lighter he pulled from his pocket. He inhaled deeply, then blew the smoke out slowly. “Okay, get your cigarettes and lighters out for this next song,” he said. “If you've been to one of our other shows, you know what that means. It’s _Smokin’ In The Boys Room!_ ” Later he ad-libbed some of the words. "... _My buddy Felix, Jimmy, and Rob, to be caught would surely be the death of us all!..._ " And then, "... _Teacher was lookin' for me all around. Two hours later you know where I was found! Singin' at The Marquee! Singin' at The Marquee!..._ "

Then _Start Me Up_ and _Witchy Woman_ to finish up the set proper. And afterwards their three encores. First, _Immigrant Song_ (another audience favorite with Little Freddie proving he could indeed do the high-pitched Robert Plant screech, [ unlike his father ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBFE-Jm3zbE)). Then,

"This is-this is for all you girls out there who are crazy about Elvis," Little Freddie said for Mary, before they went into their second encore _Jailhouse Rock/Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On_ medley. 

And last of all _Rock It (Prime Jive)_. The audience went wild hearing them play one of their father's songs. " _When I hear that rock n' roll, it gets down to my soul, when it's real rock n' roll. Oh, rock n' roll!_ " The audience sang along with Little Freddie. " _When I hear that rock n' roll, whooo! It gets down to my soul. Yes, it does,_ " Little Freddie said. " _When it's real rock n' roll. Oh, rock n' roll!..._ "

At the end they all came to the front of the stage and took their bows. "Goodbye, London!" Little Freddie shouted, out of breath. "Thank you for being such a wonderful audience. God bless you and good night!"

They went backstage to the dressing room to towel off and change clothes. 

"Oh, my gosh, Freddie, you did so well!" Mary exclaimed, coming back to where they were, along with Phoebe, Joe, and Jim. Little Freddie smiled and bent down to kiss her, despite the fact that he was dripping sweat, and wrapped his arms around her. "They’ll have to sign you now! They just have to!" she said, looking up at him and placing her hands against his chest.

"Hey! What about the rest of us?" Felix said.

Mary rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "Of course you too, Felix." She came and gave him, Jimmy, and Robert a kiss on the cheek.

“You boys did great!” Phoebe enthused. “I know your dads’ are going to be so proud when they see the tape!”

Then came Miami with another man in a suit and tie.

"Boys, this is Jacob Williams, the A&W man sent by EMI," Miami introduced the man, a rather formidable, hardened, stony-faced individual. Little Freddie and the others shook his hand.

"So what did you think, mate?" Felix asked.

“Well-” the man began, but just then Ratty, Charlie, Crystal, and Jobby showed up as well.

“I don't see how anyone couldn't have been impressed with that, mate!” Ratty said. “Trust me, I’ve been involved with a lot of rock concerts, and for them to be able put on a show like that at their age, only just teenagers, mind you, that was amazing! I know they’re just doing cover songs right now- well, except for that first one, which is bound to be a hit! But a lot of bands start off doing covers – The Beatles, The Who, The Rolling Stones! You know, The Rolling Stones did three cover albums before they started recording their own material and-”

“Excuse me, who are you exactly?” Mr. Williams interrupted him.

“My name’s Ratty, er, Peter Hince,” Ratty told him. “And this is my daughter, Charlie,” he smiled. “Chris Taylor and Brian Zellis.” He motioned at the others. “Chris, Brian, and I’ve been Queen’s roadies since the '70s. Been around the world with them and seen it all.”

“Queen’s roadies, huh?” Mr. Williams looked over at Miami who shot them a look like he wanted to strangle them. _So much for the boys doing this on their own._

“I’m well aware of The Stones’ history, Mr. Hince,” Mr. Williams said, turning back to Ratty. “And what I was going to say is that-”

“That they’re bloody brilliant?” 

Everyone’s jaws dropped open. They couldn’t believe their eyes.

“Is-is that…is that…?” Felix stammered.

“Robert Plant!” Jimmy exclaimed. 

He came and shook each of the boys’ hands as they stared at him open-mouthed. Then he rested his hands on Little Freddie's shoulders. “I’m a great fan of your dad’s, Freddie. And when I heard about you boys and that you were covering some of our songs, I had to come and see you for myself,” he said. “I can tell you’re a sweet boy, and you’ve got a great voice. I thought you sang _Immigrant Song_ just beautifully by the way.” He smiled, then put his arms around the boys’ shoulders and turned to face Mr. Williams, who looked quite taken aback to say the least. “Jacob Williams,” he said reading the name tag on the lapel of Mr. Williams’ suit. “So what do you say Mr. Williams? How about getting these boys signed? If you don’t, I will!” he chuckled. “I’m sure Atlantic Records would be glad to have them.”

“Right, can I just say one thing?” Mr. Williams said, looking around at all of them. “If everyone would kindly allow me to speak for just one moment-” he said, and they all waited on baited breath. “As I was going to say before…I completely agree with you. As someone who works day in and day out in the music industry, I hear a lot of crap, and I'm not easy to impress, but this time I'm definitely impressed. You’ve got a great sound. It’s clean. It’s tight. And you’ve got a dedication to the music. I came here expecting to see just a bunch of boys trying to make it on their fathers’ fame. But you proved me wrong. You’ve got drive, passion, talent.” _Not to mention the fact that if he didn’t sign them, and it came out that Robert Plant himself had gotten them a deal with Atlantic Records, he’d be fired by EMI and never be able to work in the music industry again._ He reached out and shook their hands. “Gentlemen, welcome to EMI. We look forward to doing business with you.”

*******

The boys were on a natural high as they helped Ratty, Charlie, Crystal, and Jobby load up the equipment and instruments so it would go faster. (Little Freddie was anxious to get Mary home as soon as possible.) But just as Little Freddie closed the van's back doors, Felix came up and stood beside him. He pounded his fist gently against the van, a frown on his face.

"What's the matter, mate?" Little Freddie asked him, still smiling. But Felix avoided his eyes.

"After we take Mary home, we've got to come back," he told him, then looked up.

The smile instantly faded from Little Freddie's face. "What? Why?"

"For the um...the after party."

"After party?!" Little Freddie said. "No, Felix. No fuckin' way!"

"To meet with some of the other men from EMI and like journalists, tour agents, venue promoters, that sort of thing," Felix explained. He sighed. "Listen, Freddie. I know I promised I'd get you straight home after the gig, and I know you hate talking to people," he said. (Little Freddie, like his father, was quiet, shy, and reserved off stage, and hated talking to people he didn't know, especially the press, who he was very wary of after the way they treated his father. He generally left that up to Felix and Jimmy, as Robert didn't much like talking to them either. Not that they'd had much press yet, mind you, since they were just starting out.) "But it's something we have to do sometimes."

Little Freddie just scowled and shook his head. Rarely did Little Freddie ever get angry, but now he looked really pissed off. But just then Mary came to Felix's aid.

"I could call and ask my parents if I could stay out a little later. Then I could come to the party with you," she suggested, which Felix greatly encouraged, hoping it would improve Little Freddie's mood.

So, at last Little Freddie reluctantly agreed and Mary went back inside to use the phone and she rang her parents.

"Hello, Daddy? It's Mary," she said when the line was picked up. "No, everything's just fine, don't worry. Freddie and the others did so well and a man from the record label came and signed them to EMI! Now they've got to go and meet some of the other men from the record label and talk to some journalists (Little Freddie noticed she didn't use the word _party_ ), and I was wondering, since there's no school tomorrow, may I please stay out a little later and go with them? And I promise I'll help Mummy out around the house tomorrow, and I'll help you in the pub and hotel." There was a pause. "Yes, Freddie's here. And Felix, Jimmy, and Robert. And their manager Jim Beach will be there, too...No, Daddy, of course not...Yes, Daddy, I promise I'll come straight home afterwards...Alright, thank you, Daddy, thank you! I love you! Bye!" She rang off, the turned to Little Freddie. "He said yes!" she exclaimed excitedly, clapping her hands together.

*******

Little Freddie went and explained the situation to Phoebe, Joe, and Jim just as they were leaving, so they could tell his dad where he was and not worry. 

The after party was being held at The Marquee Cafe, just around the corner, as they had a bar licensed to be open until 3 AM.

Little Freddie and Robert took drinks which they made Felix buy for them (seeing as how since they weren't yet 18 they could drink alcohol, but only if someone 18 or older bought the drinks for them, and seeing as how Felix was the one forcing them to attend), and sat in a back corner. Little Freddie kept his arm wrapped protectively around Mary, and Robert tried to do the same with Charlie, but he came up short, and Little Freddie wondered if it wasn't Charlie who was doing the protecting rather than the other way around. As their new roadie, she'd been invited and allowed to attend, though only after Ratty had laid down the rules which included no drinking, no smoking, and no physical contact! At any rate Little Freddie and Robert left the networking and socializing and talking up to Felix and Jimmy as usual. Though one lucky female journalist did end up getting a quote from Little Freddie.

"Some people who have been to your shows are saying you could be The Rolling Stones of your generation," she had told him. "How do you feel about that?"

"That's very nice," Little Freddie said. "But we don't want to be The Rolling Stones of our generation."

"No?" the woman asked.

"No," Little Freddie told her. "We don't want to be The Rolling Stones, or the Led Zeppelin, or the Queen of our generation. We want to be The Sons of Queen of our generation. We want people to tell bands in the future that they are The Sons of Queen of _their_ generation, you know? We just want to be us." And Robert nodded his head in agreement.

*******

Back at Garden Lodge, Freddie met Phoebe, Joe, and Jim as they were coming in the back door. 

"The boys were absolutely incredible!" Phoebe gushed. "Just wait until you see it! We got it all here for you on tape!"

Freddie rushed over and shushed them up. "Mary found out somehow," he told them. "Where's Freddie?"

"They've gone to an after party," Phoebe whispered.

"An after party?!" Freddie said. But then he immediately quietened down, and motioned them to go upstairs the back way, and went back to Mary.

*******

Felix kept them plied with drinks (but not too many) and luckily by the time the party ended at 3, Little Freddie had loosened up a bit, and even seemed to be enjoying himself, chatting with some of his peers - vocalist from other up-and-coming bands who had come to see the show, including Liam & Noel Gallagher of the recently formed band Oasis, and Robbie Williams of Take That. And Felix was quite pleased by the way the evening had gone. They said goodbye to Charlie and paid her for her help, and offered to pay Ratty, Crystal, and Jobby as well, but they refused to take any money.

Then they got into the van feeling great and headed towards Wimbledon to take Mary home. When they arrived, Little Freddie took Mary by the hand and walked her up to the front door. She opened the door and switched on the front room light, but still stood outside. Bathed in the half-light from the open doorway, with her love for him reflected in her eyes, Little Freddie thought she'd never looked more beautiful than she did tonight. He bent down to kiss her, placing his hand against her cheek, and just like that, they were snogging right there in the open doorway, only stopping when they heard Mary's father's voice.

"Mary, is that you?"

"I've got to go," she said. 

"Alright, I'll call you later," Little Freddie told her. "I love you." He gave her one last kiss.

"I love you, too," she said. "Bye."

"Bye." Little Freddie felt like he was [walking on the moon](https://youtu.be/mbv-LcdLY-Y) like the song by The Police, which played in his mind. 

Felix looked over at him as he got into the van. "You really love her don't you, mate?"

"I really do," Little Freddie said. "So much."

Felix and Jimmy looked at each other and grinned, shaking their heads at the dreamy, far away looks on Little Freddie and Robert's faces. Felix cranked up the engine before one of them started waxing poetic. Little Freddie reached down and turned on the radio:

_...The jig is up, the news is out  
They've finally found me  
The renegade who had it made  
Retrieved for a bounty  
  
Never more to go astray  
This will be the end today  
Of the wanted man... _

The boys looked at each other and chuckled nervously as Little Freddie desperately began flicking through the stations:

_...I'm wanted dead or alive  
Wanted dead or alive... _

_..._

_...Too late my time has come…_

….

_...I can feel it comin' in the air tonight, oh Lord…_

…

_Bad boys_   
_Whatcha want, watcha want_   
_Whatcha gonna do_   
_When sheriff John Brown come for you_   
_Tell me_   
_Whatcha wanna do, whatcha gonna dooo_   
_Yeaheah_

_Bad boys, bad boys_   
_Whatcha gonna do, whatcha gonna do_   
_When they come for you_

_Bad boys, bad boys_   
_Whatcha gonna do, whatcha gonna do_   
_When they come for you..._

Little Freddie switched it off, and they sat back in silence.

"Didn't want to listen to the radio anyway," Felix said.

*******

Thirty minutes later they pulled up behind The Mews at Garden Lodge. They'd snuck out so many times now that that had sneaking back in down to an art and could even have done it blindfolded. Felix cut the lights and killed the engine. Under cover of darkness, they crept through The Mews, across the garden, and over to Little Freddie's bedroom window. They looked over at Mary's house, perhaps a bit more warily this time as they'd never been out this late before, and made sure no lights were on. Then Little Freddie handed his bag to Jimmy who stood by with Robert. Felix gave him a boost and Little Freddie pushed up on the window, but though he tried it several times, it wouldn't budge.

"Shit! It must be jammed or something," he said still struggling with it. But just then the bedroom light turned on and the window slid open. And there stood Mary, Mason Pearson hairbrush in hand. She looked down at him.

"Freddie Mercury," she said, and Little Freddie gulped. "Get in this house."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *WARNING* there's going to be the parental spanking of a teenager (not abusive) in the next chapter, so if that's not your thing or if it's going to bother you, then you may not want to read ahead. But there will also be some fluff afterwards to make up for it.


	10. Was It All Worth It?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally! The chapter I've been promising and teasing forever - Little Freddie faces the music. Pun intended. 😉

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *WARNING* there's going to be the parental spanking of a teenager (not abusive) in this chapter, so if that's not your thing or if it's going to bother you, then you may not want to read ahead. But there will also be some fluff afterwards to make up for it.

"Oh, shit!" Felix instantly dropped Little Freddie's foot, leaving him dangling (thank God he had a good grip on the window ledge!). "Run! Go! Go! Go!" he shouted to Jimmy and Robert and they took off full speed back across the lawn. _Well, so much for sticking together._ But when it came to facing an angry Mary, it was every man for himself.

"I'm trying," Little Freddie told his mother, voice strained as he tried to pull himself up. Freddie came over to give him a hand and just shook his head. Once safely inside, he stood there trying to catch his breath and heard the squeal of Felix's tires just before his mother shut the window.

Then she turned to him. "That's it, Freddie. You are out of the band - permanently."

"What?! No, no, no!" Little Freddie fell to his knees. "Mum. Mum. Mama, please," he pleaded and that's when Mary knew things were serious because in all the time Little Freddie had been growing up, it was _Mummy_ or _Mum_ when he was older, but never _Mama_ unless he was really sick or upset. However, she remained unmoved. "But Mama we played at The Marquee and Robert Plant was there and-"

"Robert Plant was there?!" Freddie cut in. He had always said Led Zeppelin were the greatest rock band, deserving of the kind of success they had gotten, and that Robert Plant was one of the most original vocalists of all time, and one of his favourite singers. Robert had also said nice things about him, and even said he liked _Killer Queen_ , and anyone who said that automatically went straight into his white book.

"Freddie!" Mary hissed sharply.

"But that's beside the point!" Freddie corrected himself, scolding Little Freddie with his finger.

"Um, Dad?" Little Freddie said. "Are your nails painted yellow...with sparkles?"

"I've been told it brings out my eyes," Freddie fluttered his eyelashes, but then saw Mary giving him the death stare. "But that is also beside the point!" he said. "The point is, you knew it was against the rules and you shouldn't have snuck out!" There was silence for a moment. "So, what did Robert Plant say?"

Mary sighed, rolling her eyes. She gave up. She turned back to Little Freddie. "I don't care if you played at Buckingham Palace and The Queen herself was there, you willfully defied me and broke the agreement of the contract-"

"Yeah, that you forced me to sign!" Little Freddie shouted, standing up, but still keeping a wary eye on that hairbrush in her hand.

Freddie snapped his fingers at him. "Hey! Hey! Hey! Freddie, don't talk to your mum like that," he told him firmly. "Lower your voice and watch your tone."

"Sorry," Little Freddie apologized immediately.

"Let us be perfectly clear," Mary continued, "Nobody _forced_ you to sign anything. You signed it voluntarily out of your own free will."

"You wouldn't have let me be in the band otherwise," Little Freddie argued.

"Yes, that's true," Mary agreed. "But nevertheless nobody _forced_ you to sign it. You signed it of your own accord, thereby agreeing to abide by the terms and conditions of the contract so you could be in the band. You broke those terms and conditions, and now you're to face the consequences, which you were also fully aware of from the beginning, I might point out."

Little Freddie fell to his knees again, reaching for her hand. "I know, but, Mama, please. I-I'll do anything. Punish me any other way, I don't care, but just please, don't make me be out of the band, Mama, please. I'm sorry."

Mary started down at him. “Right, I need to speak to your father outside for a moment. Wait here.”

"Okay," Little Freddie nodded his head. He got up off his knees and sat on the edge of his bed. Freddie raised his eyebrows, giving him a hopeful look before following Mary out into the hall. Little Freddie sat there fidgeting with one of the pillows on his bed, tracing the design on the cover with his little finger, a nervous habit he'd inherited from his father, who'd always been fidgeting with something during interviews, until he'd started smoking, something he'd supposedly taken up for that exact reason in order to disguise his nervousness and give his hands something to do. Thankfully they didn't leave him waiting long. He looked at his father when they came back in the room searching his face for signs of how things had gone, but the expression on his face was unreadable. His mother came and stood in front of him.

“Alright. Very well, Freddie," she said. "I talked to your father and since this is your first offense, I’m willing to give you a second chance.”

Little Freddie couldn’t believe his ears. "Oh, thank you, Mama! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" He stood up and hugged her, carefully, and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"But, you're still to be punished. And if anything like this _ever_ happens again, you are out of the band permanently," she told him. "Do you understand me, young man?"

"Yes. Yes, ma'am. I understand," Little Freddie answered her. "And Mama I just want to tell you again that I'm really very sorry and I swear I'll never do it again."

"So, these are your two options," Mary told him as he nodded his head. "You can either be out of the band permanently, like I said before, or...you can you get a spanking and be grounded for a month."

Well that certainly gave Little Freddie pause. You could almost hear the sound of the record scratching in his mind. "A-a spanking?" he said. "But Mama, I'm-I'm too old."

"Too old? Really? And exactly how old are you, Freddie," Mary asked.

 _Oh God, here we go_ , Little Freddie thought to himself. "17," he mumbled.

"That's right," Mary told him. "Felix and Jimmy might be 18-"

"Felix is 19," Little Freddie muttered and Freddie shot him an incredulous look. _Of all the times to get smart..._

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Mary asked.

"Nothing," Little Freddie said.

Mary paused a moment, but then continued on. "As I was saying, Felix and Jimmy might be 18, but you are not. You're 17-years-old, still a child by law and as your parents we are allowed to discipline you as we see fit," she said. "You've been walking around here lately with a big chip on your shoulder thinking you're Mr. Big Time Rock Star and that the rules don't apply to you and you can do whatever you please without any consequences-"

"No, that-that's not-" Little Freddie tried to defend himself.

"-but you're about to find out very differently," Mary went on. "So, which will it be?"

Little Freddie shifted uncomfortably.

"Well?" Mary asked.

"I guess I'll take the spanking," Little Freddie said at last. "But Mama can't Dad spank me, please?" he begged.

"No," Mary told him.

"Why not?" Little Freddie pleaded.

"Because his hand isn't going to do nearly as good a job as this hairbrush is about to," she said.

"But Mama what about the baby?" Little Freddie tried in a last ditch effort to save himself.

"Well thank you for your concern Freddie, but the baby and I will be just fine," she told him, placing a hand on her belly. "Now take down your trousers."

With no other recourse left, Little Freddie brought his hands up to unbuckle his belt. "And what about the grounding?" he asked.

"You are grounded for a month - from everything," Mary informed him. "That means no allowance, no car, no computer, no games, no phone, and no television. You may only leave the house to go to and from school, to see your grandparents on Thursdays, and to attend church on Sundays. You are also not allowed to have any friends over."

"You're-you're not even going to let me see Felix and Jimmy and Robert?" Little Freddie gasped. "Well, what about Mary? Surely you're going to let me see Mary, right?"

Mary just shook her head. 

"Mama, please," he begged. Even Freddie looked at her as if he thought that were too harsh, but he didn't say anything and turned away.

"I'm sorry, Freddie," she said. "But in order for it to be a punishment it's got to hurt - in more ways than one."

And that was the worst of all. Just the thought of not being able to see Mary for a month was almost unbearable...but having the start of not only his, but Felix, Jimmy, and Robert's musical careers snatched away from them would hurt even more, and he just prayed Mary would understand.

He unbuckled his belt and undid the button on his jeans, but then stopped. "Um, Mama, um, I'm-I'm not wearing any, um-"

"Freddie, oh my-!" Mary quickly spun around as if she might accidentally see something. "Alright, Freddie, put on some boxer shorts. Your father and I will be waiting outside." She and Freddie went out into the hall, closing the door behind them, then she turned to look at Freddie and if she hadn't been so angry at the moment she would have laughed.

"I'm afraid knickers just aren't the thing worn in rock n' roll, darling," Freddie explained to her. "It impedes the visuals, you see." He flicked his eyes downward and laughed. 

Mary just rolled her eyes. She waited about 5 minutes then knocked gently on Little Freddie's bedroom door. "Freddie, are you decent?"

"Yes," came the reply from inside.

Mary opened the door slowly to find Little Freddie sitting on his bed in his jeans. "Did you put on some boxer shorts?" she asked.

"Yes," Little Freddie replied again miserably.

"Right. Stand up," Mary instructed, and Little Freddie did as he was told. "Keys," she said, holding out her hand. Little Freddie dug in his pocket and handed her his car keys. "Now take down your trousers," she told him. Freddie left the room to give them some privacy.

Little Freddie brought his hands back up to the buckle on his belt. He didn’t know why he’d even bothered doing it back up again. "Mama, please," he tried one last time. But Mary remained firm in her decision. So Little Freddie unbuckled his belt and undid the button and zip on his jeans and eased them down to just below his bottom, exposing his boxer shorts. "Bend over the desk," Mary told him. Little Freddie went over to his desk and bent over, his hot, sweaty palms leaving condensation against the soothing coolness of the desk, which he tried to concentrate on as he waited for the first smack. He couldn't believe this was happening to him...again. After his father had spanked him a few months ago he'd sworn to himself then and there that he'd never do anything else ever again to earn himself another spanking. And yet here he was. He supposed he was trying to make up for lost time. He looked behind himself nervously to see what his mother was doing, but when she came and took up her position beside him, he turned back around, hanging his head. When the first smack came, the sting was nearly enough to take his breath away. Obviously his mother wasn't holding back, but Little Freddie was determined to stay strong. However, about half-way through, he couldn't help but put his hand back.

"Ow," he whimpered despite himself. "Mama, please, I-I've learnt my lesson. I swear I'll never do it again, Mama, please. I swear. I'm sorry."

"I'll say when you've learnt your lesson," Mary told him. "Now move your hand, darling," she said a bit more gently. Through sheer force of will, Little Freddie put his hand back on the desk. By the time his mother was finished he felt like his arse was on fire - literally, and he was certain he'd never be able to sit down properly again.

"Pull your trousers up and turn around," she told him. 

He did as she asked him, and stood with his arms folded across his chest, hanging his head. There were tears in his eyes, but none had fallen, so he told himself it didn't count as crying. Because the only thing worse than getting your bottom spanked by your mum at seventeen, would be to cry about it.

Mary went out for a moment and brought Freddie back with her, who did his best to keep his face impassive.

"Your father and I are very disappointed in you. Sneaking out to play a show and staying out until 4 o'clock in the morning on a school night when you've got important exams to take the next day - honestly, Freddie, what on earth were you possibly thinking?" she asked Little Freddie, to which he had no reply. "Look at me, please, when I'm talking to you," she told him. He looked up at her. "Now instead of missing out on what would have been one show, you're missing out on a whole month, along with all the other consequences besides." She sighed. "I was telling all my friends just the other day what a caring, obedient, respectful son I have, but I guess I was wrong." Then she looked at him with sadness in her eyes. "But do you know what hurts worst of all, Freddie? A few months ago you came and told me you were sorry for the way you'd been behaving and for being so difficult, and you asked me to forgive you. And I really believed you meant that, but I guess I was wrong about that, too."

"No, Mama, come on, don't say that," Little Freddie reached out for her hand, his voice cracking with emotion. "You weren't wrong. I really did mean it, I swear."

"Go to bed, Freddie," Mary told him, wearily. "And you had better not get anything less than an A on all your exams. Do you understand me, young man?"

"Yes, ma'am," Little Freddie answered.

"As soon as you get back from school, you're to gather up all of your things over here at your father's house and come straight home. It's your and Kashmira's week with me, and I've got a whole list of chores for you to keep you busy that I made while we were waiting for you to get here. Do you understand me, young man?"

"Yes, ma'am," Little Freddie said again.

"Right," his mother said and turned and left the room.

After she’d gone, Freddie put his arms around Little Freddie and hugged him tight as Little Freddie cried into his shoulder, his resolve having failed him. _But he wasn’t crying because of the spanking_ , he told himself. _He was crying because…because…_

“I know it hurts.” Freddie rubbed his back. “So what do you think, huh? Was it worth it?”

Little Freddie didn’t answer. _Fucking Felix! He was never going to fucking forgive him for this! Fucking never!_

It seemed like his father somehow knew what he was thinking. “You’re going to have to learn to tell Felix no sometimes,” he told to him gently. “Sometimes you’re just going to have to say, ‘Here, look. This is the way I want it, and this is the way I’m going to have it.’ You know? One person going about acting as a general and telling the other three what to do, that doesn’t work. Regardless of who started the band, or whatever, it should be four equal people who all get a say. That’s the best way to do it, at least as far as I’m concerned. And I’m sure Brian, Roger, and John would all agree with me as well.” He didn’t say anything more about it after that because he knew Little Freddie was hurting and upset, and now was not the time for lectures. "Shhh. It's all gonna be okay." He gave him a kiss on the side of the head and kept his arms around him and held him close, rubbing his back until he calmed down and stopped crying. Little Freddie pulled back and wiped at his eyes with his t-shirt, a frown on his face, his brow furrowed. “Why don’t you go and wash your face, huh?” Freddie suggested.

So, Little Freddie went into the bathroom, closing the door behind him. First he took a piss as he hadn’t gone since they’d left the café and the drinks Felix had bought for him and Robert were starting to catch up. Then he went over to the sink and washed his hands and splashed some water on his face, staring at himself in the mirror.

When he came out Freddie put his arms around him again. "Your mum loves you so much, Freddie. I know she's really angry and upset right now, but when you go over there this afternoon just be on your best behaviour, say 'yes ma'am', and do whatever she asks you to do, and in a few days she'll cool down. Everything's gonna be alright, okay?" He patted him on the back. "Alright, go to sleep now and when you wake up things'll be better." He gave him another kiss. "I love you."

"I love you, too," Little Freddie told him. Then Freddie left. Little Freddie stripped down to his boxer shorts and fell into bed on his stomach whereupon, completely exhausted, he fell immediately asleep.


	11. Oh, Mamma Mia, Mamma Mia, Mamma Mia, Let Him Go!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you've read my other story I'm Goin' Back, you'll probably recognize some of the things that happen later in the chapter and you can probably guess some of what is going to happen next. I always like to connect my stories together.
> 
> Anyway thank you so much for reading and I really hope you enjoy it! :)

"Hey. Freddie." Little Freddie jolted awake a few hours later to his father gently shaking his shoulder. "Your alarm was going off. So you'd better get up and get in the shower and get ready for school, hmm?" He groaned in reply. The usual breath mints and spritz of cologne might have hidden the smell of alcohol on his breath last night, but did nothing to conceal his hangover the next morning. His father left and Little Freddie fell back asleep until- "Hey. Come on now, Freddie. Get up. If you're late for school your mum's really gonna be mad, okay? So come on now and get up, alright?" Another groan, but somehow Little Freddie forced himself to get up and do it. A short while later, after he'd had a shower with the water on as hot as it would go, nearly burning his skin, and finished getting himself ready, he came downstairs, still half out of it, and dragged into the kitchen. 

"Good morning, Freddie!" Phoebe greeted him cheerfully, banging about loudly as he cooked breakfast, which did nothing for his humdinger of a headache.

He continued on into the breakfast area located to one side of the kitchen, and saw that somebody, he assumed his father, had placed a soft cushion on the built-in banquette at his place at the table. He wasn't hurting anymore now of course. No matter how angry his mother might have been with him, she would absolutely never spank him so hard as to leave him with bruises or welts or in pain for hours. Even so, he appreciated the gesture.

He sat there, head in hands, fighting waves of nausea. His father gave him a disproving, knowing look, but luckily didn't say anything, just placed two Panadol tablets in front of him, which he washed down with a drink of tea - milk and two sugars, just like his dad. Then Phoebe brought in his food - [a full English breakfast](https://i.redd.it/gxw2cxet82f01.jpg) as well as orange juice and toast - the best and fastest cure for a hangover, which Freddie had asked him to prepare for Little Freddie. Freddie sat down on the banquette beside him.

"You okay?" he asked, giving him a concerned look. Little Freddie knew he meant about last night.

“Yeah, I just feel really sick right now,” he answered. Which was exactly why Freddie saw no need to punish him for his drinking. It came with its own built-in consequences. Parenting made easy.

“Mm. That’s because you need to eat something, darling,” Freddie told him. But Little Freddie made no move to eat. “At least try to eat a few bites before you go to school, hmm?” Little Freddie slowly put one hand down and picked up his fork. Freddie reached over and touched him on the knee. "So tell me about last night then, huh?"

So, as he ate, and he had to admit that he did start to feel much better after the first few bites, he told his father all about it. About their new roadie, Charlie (which Freddie quipped brought whole new meaning to the phrase “fat bottomed girls, you make the rockin’ world go ‘round”), and the show ("I think we went down well," Little Freddie told him), and Robert Plant (Freddie beaming with pride the whole time), and Jacob Williams, the man from EMI.

"The man he works for at EMI, Jack Jones, is supposed to be calling Miami to set up a meeting with us in his office to go over the deal and sign the contract," Little Freddie said. _Though he supposed that wouldn't be happening now since he wasn't even allowed to leave the house._

"Now, Freddie, you know what your mum said - nothing professional before you're 18," Freddie reminded him.

"I know, but I was planning on talking to her about it and I was hoping she might change her mind, or at least hear what they have to say," Little Freddie lamented with a sigh.

"Mm." _There was very little chance of that happening for him now,_ Freddie thought sadly. He wished Little Freddie had made better choices and hadn't got caught, because now he was having to learn a hard lesson that all actions have consequences, just as Freddie had warned him and the others.

"Freakin' Felix!" Little Freddie fumed. "As soon as I found out about the exams at school, I talked to Felix about it and I asked him if we could change the date or switch with one of the other groups, but he said no way because it took him forever to get the Friday slot we had and nobody was going to give up their Saturday or Sunday spot, and even if somebody with a Saturday or Sunday spot was willing to switch with us, it had already been run in the magazine as the 15th. So I said, 'Alright, fine, mate.' You know? 'But as soon as the show's over I have to come straight home.' And he was like, 'Of course, mate! 100% agree. As soon as the show's over we'll get you straight home so you can get some rest.' But then after the show when we were loading up our stuff, he came up to me and he said, 'After we take Mary home, we've got to come back.' And I said, 'What? Why?' And he said, 'For the after party.' And I said, 'No, Felix! No fu- No freakin' way!' And he said, 'It's to meet with some of the other men from EMI and like journalists, tour agents, venue promoters, that sort of thing.' And then he was like, 'Listen, Freddie. I know I promised I'd get you straight home after the gig, and I know you hate talking to people. But it's something we have to do sometimes.'"

Freddie listened and nodded, offering his silent support. "I thought it was probably something like that," he said when Little Freddie had finished.

"So did Mum say anything about how she found out?" Little Freddie asked.

Freddie reached over to retrieve something from the counter of the massive Welsh dresser built to fit into the corner which contained part of his vast collection of dinner services. When Little Freddie saw the _Melody Maker_ magazine in his hand, his heart sank, and he remembered he'd left it lying on his bedroom floor.

"She said she was tidying up in your room, picking up your laundry that you left on the floor-" Freddie told him, giving him a bit of a stern look because he didn't get away with that sort of thing over here, "-and accidentally picked this up with one of your shirts and dropped it, and when she dropped it, it fell open to the Live Ads section, and she saw The Marquee Club ad for The Sons of Queen on the page."

"Oh no," Little Freddie groaned, burying his face against his arms on the table. _How could he have been so careless with his things?_

Freddie put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't be too hard on yourself. Things happen. We all make mistakes. And there's really no reason to worry about it now because there's nothing to do about it. You can't go back and change what happened. For better or worse, what's done is done. So the best thing to do is just to mark it down as experience and learn from it. Take responsibility for it, try to put things back to rights if you can, and move on from there."

Little Freddie didn't say anything, just stayed the way he was.

"Hey, come here." Freddie pulled him in close for a hug. "You just remember what I told you last night, hmm? It's all gonna be okay. In a few days, it'll all blow over and everything'll be alright, okay?" he told him, rubbing his back. "Right, you’d better be getting off to school now. Good luck on your exams. I love you."

"I love you, too," Little Freddie said. Freddie gave him three quick kisses on the side of the head, then let him go.

Little Freddie gathered up his plate and silverware and took them into the kitchen and over to the large double sink under the window on the rear wall. He washed them up and placed them in the drainer, something Freddie had taught him and Kashmira to do since they were little as he thought it important they learn to tidy up after themselves and not always depend on Phoebe all the time. But just as he was about to go and get his bag, his father called him.

"Freddie, come here."

He walked back into the breakfast area and saw his father holding the phone receiver in his hand.

"You've got five minutes," he told him, handing him the receiver. Then he took his tea cup and went into the kitchen with Phoebe to give him some privacy.

Even though it was still early, Little Freddie dialed the number to Mary's house.

"Hello?" her mum came on the line.

"Er, yes, hello, Mrs. Smith? It's Freddie," he said.

"Ah, Freddie!" she said. "How are you, darling? Is everything alright, dear?"

"Yes, yes, ma'am, everything's just fine, thank you," he told her. "I'm sorry to ring so early but, erm...is there any way that I could talk to Mary for just a few minutes?"

"Of course, love, just a moment- Mary, darling! It's Freddie on the phone for you!"

A moment later Mary picked up the phone. "Hello? Freddie? Is everything okay?"

"Yes, everything's okay, don't worry. But uh...my mum caught me sneaking back in this morning and she, um, grounded me...for a month. From everything - no allowance, no car - she took my keys, no computer, no games, no phone, and no television. I can't leave the house except to go to and from school, to see my grandparents on Thursdays, and to attend church on Sundays. And I'm also not allowed to have any friends over. She's not even letting me see Felix, or Jimmy, or Robert. And I said, 'Well, what about Mary? Surely you're going to let me see Mary, right?' But she just said no." He felt himself starting to get angry again, and he told her all about it - about the whole thing with Felix and even how Felix and the others had run off and left him hanging, quite literally, from the window sill when they'd got caught by his mum trying to sneak back in, (though he left out the part about the spanking, and also how his mother had found out about the show).

"Oh, Freddie," Mary sighed sympathetically.

"I'm so sorry, Mary," he apologized, feeling awful. "So...will you wait for me then?"

"Of course I'll wait for you, Freddie!" Mary told him, rolling her eyes with a smile. "A month's not that long! It could have been much worse. Besides, absence makes the heart grow fonder."

Just then Freddie came back in the room. "Time's up."

"Alright, well I've gotta go," Little Freddie said. "I love you so much."

"I love you so much, too," she told him.

"Bye."

"Bye." They rang off and Little Freddie hung up the phone.

*******

As soon as Terry dropped him off at school, Robert came up to him.

"Hey, Freddie, mate."

"Hey, mate," Little Freddie said, even though he was still pretty salty about the way they'd all abandoned him last night.

"You okay?" Robert asked.

"No, I'm really not, you know?" Little Freddie told him grimly. "But anyway, I can't talk about it right now. I've got to get to class, I've got exams."

"Oh, yeah, right. Sorry." Robert stood aside and watched him go.

Thankfully, despite his current condition, Little Freddie did manage to scrape by with an A on all exams, even if only just barely. So at least there was that.

*******

"How did he look?" Felix and Jimmy had come to pick up Robert as soon as he returned from school, with the express intention of going over to check on Little Freddie.

"He looked...really bad," Robert admitted at last. “I asked him if he was okay, and he said, ‘No, I’m really not.’ And he said but anyway he couldn’t talk about it right then ‘cause he had to get to class ‘cause he had exams.”

“Oh, man. His mum must’ve really given him the business.” Felix shook his head. “Well, we’ll be there soon,” he said, increasing his speed.

*******

At Garden Lodge, Little Freddie was out in the garage, on the pretense of retrieving something he needed, but actually he was just wasting time, prolonging the inevitable of having to go over to his mum’s house for the week. He casually sauntered by the piano and with one hand played a random snatch of Felix’s song they’d been working on, [_Woman You’re So Beautiful_](https://youtu.be/SIZNt9ZfuOw), even though it had more of a reggae feel to it and wasn’t really suited to the piano. Then he abruptly stopped. _Bastard_. Suddenly he was startled by a voice behind him.

“Any particular reason you’re playing that piano standing up? It wouldn’t have anything to do with your mum’s Mason Pearson hairbrush she had with her this morning, now would it?”

Little Freddie turned to see Felix, Jimmy, and Robert stood at the end of the open garage doorway. “Hey, fuck you, Felix! That shit hurts!” he fumed, chest heaving. “It’s a shit song anyway.”

Felix was slightly taken aback, first because he’d only been joking but he guessed Little Freddie’s mum really had spanked him! And second because this was the first time Little Freddie had ever told him _Fuck you!_ and actually meant it. “Yeah, well-” he began defensively at first, but then sighed, unsure of what he’d been going to say anyway, as he knew Little Freddie was just upset about everything that had happened, and this whole thing was really Felix’s fault anyway. “Listen, Freddie, mate, I’m really sorry about what happened. If I’d had any idea that your mum was going to ~~beat your arse~~ , er…react that way, I swear I never would have…”

“Yeah, well, joke’s on you,” Little Freddie told him, turning back to the piano. “She grounded me for a month.”

“A month?!” Felix exclaimed incredulously. Just then they heard Freddie’s voice.

“Freddie, are you ready to go over to your mum’s house?”

“Yeah, I’m coming,” he called back. “Gotta go,” he told them.

Cowed, Felix and the others retreated back to the van.

“Fuck,” Felix groaned, resting his head against the steering wheel. He straightened up and turned the key in the ignition, but after a moment’s hesitation, turned it back off again. “No,” he said, turning to look at the others. “We can’t leave him again.”

*******

Before taking them over to Mary’s house, Freddie gave Little Freddie another hug.

“It's all gonna be okay. Everything’s gonna be alright,” he reminded him yet again, with a kiss. 

Kashmira came downstairs with her pink rolling suitcase. 

“Do you have all your things together?” Freddie asked.

“Mm-hmm,” she answered.

“Richard, come here,” Freddie called and the little boy who’d been squatted down playing nearby, stood up and came toddling towards him, smiling.

“Da-da.” He reached up and Freddie took him in his arms. Despite his and Mary’s best efforts to get Richard to call him _Freddie_ or _Uncle Freddie_ , hearing Little Freddie and Kashmira call him _Dad_ and _Daddy_ , Richard had begun calling him _Da-da_ as well, and Freddie absolutely loved it. He smiled at him affectionately and gave him a big kiss on the cheek.

Just then Jim came in from the Garden. Kashmira ran over to give him a hug.

“Bye, Papa Jim! Have fun on your trip to Ireland!” Jim was leaving on Friday to go and visit his mother in Ireland for a week.

“Goodbye, sweetheart,” he told her, hugging her tight. “I’m really gonna miss you lot.”

Little Freddie came over and hugged him as well. “Bye, Papa Jim.”

Then Freddie brought Richard over. “Say bye-bye to Papa Jim.”

“Pa-pa,” Richard said, reaching out to Jim, who took him in his arms.

“Awww. I’m really gonna miss this little lad,” Jim said, kissing his cheek, then handed him back.

Freddie reached down and slung the strap of the change bag over his shoulder.

“Right, we’d better be going,” he said, extending his hand to Kashmira, who thankfully didn’t consider herself too old to hold his hand…yet anyway.

When they arrived next door, Freddie knocked and Mary came to the door.

“Hello, my darlings!” she greeted them each with a kiss, including Freddie, and took Richard from his arms.

“Ma-ma!”

“Hi, Mummy!”

“Hey, Mum,” Little Freddie said, returning her kiss. _Mary guessed she was back to being “mum” now that she’d spanked him._

“I’m glad to have you all back home. I’ve missed you!” she said. “Have you been good?” _Little Freddie supposed that question was directed at Kashmira and Richard, as he most certainly had not been good._

“Yes, Mummy,” Kashmira said.

Freddie and Mary stood talking for a moment. “Now this week I’m to get them back on Monday, right?” Freddie asked.

“Yes,” Mary said. “Because, you see, we’re going to be spending the day with my parents on Saturday. Then Sunday, Kashmira and Richard have been invited to a birthday party."

"Ooh sounds like fun!" Freddie said for Kashmira's benefit.

"And I’ve got lots of things for Freddie to do for me over here while we’re gone to the party," Mary added. _That didn't sound like so much fun._

Little Freddie just hung his head.

“Alright, darling, well I hope you all have a wonderful week and a good time at the party, and I’ll see you lot on Monday,” Freddie told her.

“Bye, Daddy!” Kashmira hugged him goodbye.

“Bye, baby. Daddy loves you. You all be good for Mummy and mind what she tells you,” Freddie said.

“Yes, Daddy, we will,” Kashmira answered him as he gave her a kiss, then Richard and Mary, and last of all Freddie who he also wrapped in a hug.

“Bye,” he told them one last time.

“Bye!”

“Bye, Daddy!”

And when he closed the door behind him, to Little Freddie it felt like the slamming of the bars of a cell door.

***

He took his things up to his room and just as soon as he'd finished his mother called him.

"Freddie, would you come downstairs, please?"

So he came back downstairs to where she stood waiting for him.

"How did you do on your exams today?" she asked.

"I got all A's. Honest!" Little Freddie told her. "You can call and ask the headmaster if you don't believe me."

"I believe you," she said. "Right. Here's the list of chores I've made for you." She handed him a piece of paper. It read:

1\. Clean the bathrooms

2\. Clean the skirting (baseboards)

3\. Clean the windows

4\. Do your laundry

5\. Dust

6\. Fold up all the other laundry and put it away

7\. Hoover (Vacuum) the sitting room

8\. Set the table for dinner

9\. Sweep and mop the kitchen floor

10\. Take out the bins

11\. Tidy up your room and make your bed

12\. Wash up the dishes

13\. Water the plants

"I'm taking Kashmira and Richard to play at the park for a little while," Mary told him. "And I expect you to have most of those done by the time we get back."

"Yes, ma'am," Little Freddie answered her.

"Oh and by the way, your Nan might be calling with the number to a bakery. I want to pick up a special dessert for your Granddad for when we go to visit them on Saturday. I told her I was going to take Kashmira and Richard to play at the park this afternoon, but that you’d be here. So just write the number down for me, would you please?" Mary said.

"Yes, ma'am," Little Freddie answered her again.

"Alright, sweetheart. We'll see you in a little while." She kissed him on the cheek. "Kashmira, Richard, let's go!"

After they’d left, Little Freddie stood there staring down at the list. Well, he supposed he’d start at the top and work his way down. So he went into the bathroom, first to have a slash and then to start cleaning. But as luck would have it, that’s exactly when the phone started ringing.

“Shit!” So he tried to hurry up, and as he was washing his hands, he heard his grandmother come on the answering machine:

Beep. “Hello, Freddie, it’s your Nana. Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello? I don’t like these bloody things. Hello? Freddie?”

He rushed in and picked up the phone.

“Freddie? Can you hear me? Can you hear me? Freddie?”

“Hey, Nana,” he answered.

“Hello? Freddie? Can you hear me?”

“Yes, yes, Nana, I’m here,” he said.

“Oh, Freddie. Is your mum there?”

“No, Nana, she took Kashmira and Richard to play in the park for a little while,” he told her.

“Oh, well, I have the number to the bakery for her here and-”

“Alright, I’ll just get a pen, Nana, hang on.” There was a pen there beside the phone and he tried it out on the pad of paper that was also there, but of course it was out of ink and didn’t work. “Shit.” He picked the phone back up. “I’ll just get a pen, Nana, hang on,” he told her again. He continued his search looking all around. “Pen. Pen.” He opened the drawers and found one his mother’s eyeliners and a little blue shitty lottery pen, which he supposed would have to do. “Sorry about that, Nana. You can go ahead. I’ve got a pen now.” But then he noticed Richard had chewed on it and bitten through the end of it, so that every time he pressed it to the paper, the nib went up inside. So he’d have to carve the number into the paper now.

“It’s 307-2955.”

“Okay, I’ve got it written down here, Nana. Thank you,” he said.

“They make your Granddad’s favorite treat there – spotted dick ([an English dessert](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotted_dick)),” his grandmother told him. “I told him, ‘I’ll give you some spotted dick.’ But he said, ‘No you can't! Noah Johnson down at the bakery’s the only one who knows how to give it to me just right, when he pours his custard all over it.’”

“Er…” Little Freddie half-laughed.

“Do you like spotted dick, Freddie?” his grandmother asked him.

“No, Nana. But I think my dad might.” He just couldn’t help himself.

“Oh,” his grandmother said, and Little Freddie had to smother his laughter with a hand over his mouth, especially when he thought of what his dad would have said had he been here. He figured Freddie with his quick wit would have said something like:

“Well, I do love dick. But I always be sure to avoid the spotted ones.” And Mary would have killed them both.

Just then there was a knock at the door.

“Sorry, Nana. I’ve got to go. There’s somebody at the door,” he said. “I love you. I’ll see you and Granddad on Saturday, okay?”

As soon as they’d rung off, he went and opened the front door. And who should be standing there but Felix, Jimmy, and Robert, looking quite contrite.

“Hey, Freddie, mate,” Felix said.

“What are you doing here? What do you want?” Little Freddie asked. “I’m not allowed to have any visitors, you know. If my mum catches you over here, she’s really gonna let me have it.”

“Listen, mate,” Felix began. “We shouldn’t have run off and abandoned you like that. It was a real shit thing to do, and you have every right to be angry with us. But we’re not gonna do that anymore. From now on, it’s gonna be like The Four Musketeers – all for one and one for all!, and all that.”

“Er, there were only three musketeers, Felix,” Robert told him.

“Oh, well, you know what I mean,” Felix said. Then he sighed. “I’m gonna talk to your mum and tell her it was all my fault. I should have listened to you when you wanted to change the date. And I should have kept my promise to you to bring you back home as soon as the show was over. Which is why from now on, we go strictly by the contract! No more sneaking out or any of the other things. It ain’t worth it for you to get in trouble. AND…from now on, any major decisions are going to be by majority vote only. And if it’s something really important, we’re not gonna do it unless the four of us all agree. There, I’ve said my piece.” He waved his hand in finality.

“Actually, it wasn’t your fault, mate. It was mine,” Little Freddie admitted, as they all looked at him with puzzled faces. And he told them about what had happened with the magazine.

“Oh, well...,” Felix said, “It was still my fault, mate.”

“No, come on, Felix. You don’t have to say that,” Little Freddie told him.

“No, no, I’m being serious, mate!” Felix insisted. “If I'd let you change the date, we could've waited until we could've gotten a Saturday slot, and then it wouldn't have mattered.”

Little Freddie realized Felix felt really bad about what had happened, and he wanted to take the blame, so he let him.

“But, anyway, regardless of who’s fault it was, we still shouldn’t have left you on your own like that,” Felix went on. “So…can you forgive us?”

“Yeah, I guess,” Little Freddie said, with a wry half-smile.

“But I’m still gonna talk to your mum,” Felix told him, pointing his finger at him. “Maybe she’ll let you off.” Little Freddie only wished Felix had tried to talk to her this morning, before she'd tanned his arse.

“She’s not here right now,” Little Freddie said. “She’s taken Kashmira and Richard to play at the park for a little while.”

“Well in that case…could we come inside and wait for her, then?” Felix asked. “It’s bloody freezin’ out here!” And they all laughed.

“Yeah, of course, come in.” Little Freddie opened the door wider so they could come inside.

“Thanks, mate,” Felix said after they’d come in, and Little Freddie shut the door behind them. "So your mum came down hard on you, huh, mate?"

"Yeah, in more ways than one," Little Freddie said, and they all gave a grimace of pain. _Ouch._

"Well, you know what The Pretenders say mate," Felix tried, going for a bit of levity. "[Bad boys get spanked](https://youtu.be/VPvPTAIN2R8)!" he and Jimmy and Robert leaned in and sang together.

"Fuck off!" Little Freddie told them, only this time he was laughing. 

"I'm just takin' the piss, mate," Felix said to him.

Then Little Freddie grew serious. "My mum said she was disappointed in me."

"Ah!" Felix said, waving it off with hand. "Parents always say that sort of thing when they're telling you off, mate, to try and make you feel bad. It's like one of their go to phrases they all learn from somewhere."

"Not mine," Little Freddie said sadly. "Not this time. She really meant it. I can't ever do that again." Felix put a hand on his shoulder.

"It'll be alright, mate. Just let me talk to her, okay?" Felix said. "What else did she say?"

So Little Freddie went through the whole thing again - no allowance, no car, no computer, no games, no phone, and no television. He couldn't leave the house except to go to and from school, to see his grandparents on Thursdays, and to attend church on Sundays. And he also wasn't allowed to have anybody over.

"Not even you lot...or Mary," he said. "But it was either that or be out of the band."

"She was gonna make you be out of the band?!" Felix asked incredulously. He shook his head. "Well, don't worry about, mate," he told him. "We'll think of something." In a moment he snapped his fingers. "I know! It won't be the same as seeing Mary, of course, but...You said your mum grounded you from the phone, right? But she didn't say anything about the post (mail) did she?"

"No," Little Freddie said, beginning to get a grin on his face.

"Well, there you are then, mate!" Felix said. "Me and Jimmy and Robert'll be your carrier parrots, like in the olden days during World War I, or whenever."

"That's pigeons, Felix," Jimmy corrected him. "Not parrots."

"Well, whatever," he said. "I was out the day we studied that in school."

Jimmy just rolled his eyes.

"You give your letters to Robert when you see him at school," Felix explained. "Then he'll give them to me and Jimmy and we'll take them to Mary for you. And we'll take Mary's letters and give them to Robert, and he'll give them to you!"

"Yeah, alright," Little Freddie agreed, already beginning to feel better about the whole situation.

“What’s all this?” Felix asked, pointing to the paper in Little Freddie’s hand.

“Oh, it’s a list of chores I’m supposed to be getting done before my mum gets back,” Little Freddie said.

Felix took the paper from him and scanned the list. “Well, we’d better get started then,” he said. “You go ahead and write your letter to Mary and in the meantime we’ll get this sorted out.”

So Little Freddie took the pad of paper by the phone, and looking around some more finally found a decent pen, and sat down on the sitting room sofa to write his letter to Mary:

My Dearest Mary,

Ha ha That sounds very old fashioned, doesn’t it? Felix, Jimmy, and Robert have volunteered to be our carrier ~~parrots~~ pigeons (Felix thought they were parrots ha ha), so this way we can still talk to each other, even though I know it isn’t the same as talking to each in person or by phone. Even though I just saw you last night (or I suppose it was really this morning), and talked to you on the phone before school, I’m missing you terribly already.

I’m so sorry to have disappointed you and let you down again. I hope you’ll forgive me. Despite my best intentions, I just can’t seem to keep myself out of trouble. Thank you for saying you’ll wait for me, and for always being so patient and understanding with me, even when I don’t deserve it. But even when I do stupid things and make bad mistakes, just know I love you always, more than words could ever say. And I promise to try and do better from now on.

Felix and the others came over to check on me, and we’ve all made up now. They apologized for running off and abandoning me last night, and Felix said from now on, it’s going to be like the ~~Three~~ Four Musketeers (since there are four of us ha ha) – all for one and one for all! He said he was really sorry about what happened and that from now on, we’re going to go strictly by the contract, as it isn’t worth me getting into trouble for. And that from now on any major decisions are going to be by majority vote only. And if it’s something really important, we’re not going do it unless the four of us all agree.

Well, I’d better go, I’ve got a whole list of chores that I’m supposed to be getting done before my Mum comes back from taking Kashmira and Richard to play in the park. Thankfully Felix and the others are here helping me.

I love you so much.

XOXO

Eternally yours,

Love Freddie

He folded it up and brought it to Felix who placed it in his pocket. He and the others had divided up the chore list between the four of them, with Felix doing four tasks, and Little Freddie, Jimmy, and Robert each doing three:

1\. Clean the bathrooms - Felix

2\. Clean the skirting (baseboards) – Jimmy - “What the hell’s skirting?” Felix had asked. “I believe it’s those,” Jimmy told him, pointing at the house’s skirting boards. “Oh.”

3\. Clean the windows - Jimmy

4\. Do your laundry - Freddie

5\. Dust - Jimmy

6\. Fold up all the other laundry and put it away - Freddie

7\. Hoover (Vacuum) the sitting room - Felix

8\. Set the table for dinner – Robert 

9\. Sweep and mop the kitchen floor - Felix

10\. Take out the bins - Robert

11\. Tidy up your room and make your bed - Freddie

12\. Wash up the dishes – Felix 

13\. Water the plants - Robert

“Everyone alright with that?” Felix asked.

“Yeah, yeah,” the others all agreed. 

So a few minutes later, Felix snapped on some yellow washing-up gloves he’d found. “Alright, lads,” he said, tying on Mary’s apron which read #1 Mum, “Let’s get to it.”

And with the four of them working together, it didn’t take them very long at all. Towards the end, Robert started to come into the kitchen to set the table, and found Felix lip synching to Jennifer Rush’s song [The Power of Love](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_zHQ6kFuQ0&ab_channel=JenniferrushVEVO) on the radio, using the scrub brush as a microphone.

“‘Cause I am your lady, and you are my man…”

“Er, Felix,” Robert said.

Felix stopped abruptly and whipped around. “What you want? Don’t come in here dirtying up my nice clean floors, I’ve just mopped. Don’t go in the sitting room either, I’ve just hoovered in there. And don’t even think about using the toilets – you can hold it.”

“But I need to set the table,” Robert protested.

Felix just looked him up and down for a moment. “Fine, then take your shoes off,” he told him at last.

Shortly after they’d finished, Mary returned home with Kashmira and Richard. “Freddie, we’re home,” she called as she took Richard’s coat off.

Little Freddie and the others came into the front hall.

"Oh! Well, hello there, Felix, Jimmy, Robert," Mary greeted them. "I'm sorry, I just wasn't quite expecting to see the three of you here. I don't know if Freddie's told you this, but he isn't allowed to have any visitors right now."

"Oh, yes! Yes, ma'am he told us," Felix said. "But there's something I need to tell you."

"Alright," Mary agreed. But then her brow wrinkled in confusion. "Is that my apron?"

"Oh, yeah. Sorry." Felix quickly took the apron off and placed it on the hall table beside the phone. Then he blew out his breath, running a hand over his hair as he stepped closer to her. "What I wanted to tell you is that it's my fault what happened," he said. He explained everything to her, emphasizing his own guilt, and Little Freddie's innocence, and deeply apologized for having gone against her wishes, broken her trust, and corrupted her son. Unfortunately, Mary, while sympathetic, remained firm.

"Well thank you for your honesty, Felix," she said. "But Freddie's just as much to blame. He knew it was wrong, just like the rest of you did, but instead of doing what was right and saying no, he made the decision to go along with it anyway. So, unfortunately, now he's having to face the consequences for his actions. I'm sorry, but the punishment still stands."

"Yes, ma'am," Felix answered her, as they all hung their heads.

*******

"Shit!" he swore later, pounding his fists against the steering wheel after he, Jimmy, and Robert had returned to the van. He cranked up the engine and they headed for home. However, he was not to be deterred…The next day he, Jimmy, and Robert paid a visit to Miami.

"A contract, Felix?!" Miami burst out after Felix had told him the situation. "Don't you think maybe you should have told me about all this before now?"

"Yeah, probably. Sorry about that," Felix apologized. 

Miami just put his hands to his face, shaking his head. Of all the things he'd had to deal with Freddie and Roger over the years, this wasn't one of them!

"Come on, mate! You've got to do something!" Felix insisted. "You're good at negotiations, right? Surely you could make a deal with her. You know, make her an offer she can't refuse?"

Miami lifted his head. "Make her an offer she can't refuse, Felix? Who do I look like to you? Vito Corleone?"

"In that suit - a little bit," Robert pointed out. Miami just gave him a look.

"Couldn't you at least try?" Jimmy asked. "Please. For Freddie's sake?"

Miami sighed. "Alright," he agreed at last. "But only for his sake." He looked around at them, then grudgingly picked up the phone.

"Hello?" Mary came on the line.

"Hello, Mary? It's Miami." He cleared his throat. "It's been brought to my attention that with Felix and the others' help-" He gave them all a pointed look, "Freddie's gotten himself into a bit of trouble, and I was wondering if you'd be open to negotiating the terms of his punishment. Perhaps we could make a deal of some sort."

"Hmmm. Let me guess-" Mary said, "Felix asked you to call, didn't he?"

"Ah...yes he did," he admitted.

"Well, as I explained to Felix yesterday, the punishment is non-negotiable and not open for discussion," Mary told him.

He sighed. "Right. I understand," he said. "Goodbye."

"What the hell was that?!" Felix demanded after Miami had rung off.

"I'm sorry, Felix," Miami told him. "I've just spoken directly to the warden herself and she says unfortunately Freddie isn't up for parole. His sentence will have to be served out in full."

"Damn it!" Felix swore.

*******

That same afternoon, Freddie called over to Mary's house.

"Freddie!" she called after they'd rung off. "You need to go over to your dad's house for a minute. He says he needs to talk to you about something."

Little Freddie was a bit nervous, thinking he was in trouble in again. But when Freddie came to the door, he was smiling.

"Come here, I want to show you something," he said. They went into the sitting room, and Freddie handed him a wrinkled, folded up piece of paper, which looked like it had already been passed around and read multiple times. It was an article from _Music Week_ magazine by Emily Horide, daughter of Rosemary Horide, who had apparently followed in her mother's footsteps into musical journalism. Rosemary herself had been a big supporter of Queen and had written many glowing reviews of their shows in the early days in what was then _Disk_ magazine.

**Rock Gods In The Making**

Friday night I had the enviable pleasure of seeing The Sons of Queen perform at The Marquee Club located on London's Charing Cross Road. The show was a brilliant display of musical professionalism and showmanship, to which the four member of the band gave their all. They introduced themselves to the stage with their self-entitled song _The Sons of Queen_. The rest of the set consisted of previously recorded songs from other artists, but at no point did it seem they were just performing covers. The lead vocalist, Freddie Mercury, Jr., had the audience eating out of the palm of his hand from the moment he appeared on stage. He has the moves like Jagger, a stage presence to rival that of his father, and sings like he's possessed by rockers of ages past. Able to match the high pitched screams and deep growls of Led Zeppelin's Robert Plant to the powerful blues-rock voice of The Animals' Eric Burdon, he took us on a musical journey with him by his voice alone, transporting us from The Marquee's smoke filled room, into the world of the songs in which he was the protagonist, telling us his stories. After two encores - the first a medley of Elvis Presley's _Jailhouse Rock_ and a very loose version of Jerry Lee Lewis' _Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On_ , and the second a cover of their fathers' song _Rock It (Prime Jive)_ , they left the stage to screams and applause from the enthusiastic audience. Later I caught up with Freddie and bassist, Robert Deacon, at the after party held at The Marquee Cafe just around the corner. Ensconced together in a back corner of the cafe, nursing beers with their arms wrapped around two very beautiful and lucky young ladies, when I asked them about the rumours that they could be The Rolling Stones of their generation, I was able to get a quote from Freddie who seemed painfully shy, at complete odds with the confident, outgoing persona he presents on stage: "That's very nice. But we don't want to be The Rolling Stones of our generation. We don't want to be The Rolling Stones, or the Led Zeppelin, or the Queen of our generation. We want to be The Sons of Queen of our generation. We want people to tell bands in the future that they are The Sons of Queen of their generation, you know? We just want to be us." Rock gods in the making? After the show they put on Friday night, and given a little time, it seems inevitable, and perhaps they will be the ones to save rock for not only their generation, but generations to come. - Emily Horide

Little Freddie sat there in stunned silence. Even after reading it three times, he still couldn't believe it. Their first review in a major music magazine!

"So what do you think?" Freddie asked at last.

"Oh my God! I can't believe it! I-" Suddenly there was a choked up feeling in his throat and Freddie could see the glint of tears in his eyes. He hugged his father tight, and Freddie himself had a hard time remaining stoic, as there was no feeling in the world like seeing your children's dreams come true for them.

Freddie rang Brian, Roger, and John on a four-way call (because he said it didn’t count as Little Freddie using the phone so long as Freddie was the one doing the calling), and they all put their phones on speaker so they and the boys could all talk to each other. Of course the boys were all ecstatic about the article.

“We’re so proud of you boys,” Brian told them.

“But now, they won’t all be this favourable, of course,” Freddie cautioned. “You’re bound to get some unfair, dishonest reviews because those arrogant sods in the bloody British press love to give a good slagging. But you shouldn’t give a damn what they say. They can write what they want because whatever they say it doesn’t matter. The public have their own mind, and as long as the public like you and your records sell, that’s what matters. They’re the ones that keep you going. Critics don’t buy your records; they don’t give you money. It’s a cutthroat business, and it needs a strong willed person to survive in this industry. You have to be astute and strong. You have to be a hard-faced bitch. So who cares what the journalists say? What do they know? Fuck them if they just don’t get it!”

And despite how much trouble he was in at the moment, Little Freddie went back to his mum’s house feeling on top of the world, and with the confidence and feeling that soon he and The Sons of Queen really would be.

*******

And so the week went on, but meanwhile back at Garden Lodge, it seemed Jim was up to something. On Saturday, after taking the children to Mary’s house, Freddie had caught Jim sneaking down from the loft.

“What’ve you got there?” Freddie asked and Jim nearly jumped a meter in the air and spun around, hiding something behind his back.

“Nothing!” he said quickly. Freddie gave him a skeptical look. “Alright, it is something,” Jim admitted at last, “But I can’t show you.”

“Why not?” Freddie asked.

“Because it’s meant to be a surprise,” Jim told him. “Now turn around and close your eyes there. And no peeking!”

Freddie did as he was told and Jim carefully crept by behind him, careful to keep the object hidden behind his back, as he knew Freddie wouldn’t be able to resist peeking. And sure enough, after he’d made his way down the stairs, he caught Freddie cracking an eye open.

“Hey, I said no peeking!” he scolded with his finger as he made his way from the room, with whatever it was still behind his back.

After that, every day after Jim had finished his work in the garden, he disappeared into his workshop that was attached to the garage, only coming out to have a quick dinner, then going back in there and staying until bedtime. Then to Freddie’s even greater consternation, Brian started coming over as well, and the two of them would hole themselves up in Jim’s workshop.

“What are the two of you up to in there?” Freddie asked. But neither one of them would reveal anything, and neither would Phoebe or Joe, no matter how much Freddie wheedled them.

“None of your business, that’s what,” Jim said finally. “And stay out!” he added, already having had to chase Freddie away from the workshop door more times than he could count.

“You’ll find out soon enough,” Brian told him with a smile. “Until then you’re just going to have to wait. Patience is a virtue, you know.”

Freddie supposed Brian was right, and patience was a virtue, but not one of his, and just when he thought he couldn’t take the suspense any longer, on Thursday night, the night before Jim was set to leave to visit his mum in Ireland, he and Brian brought Freddie into the workshop to show him what they’d been working on. And what he saw lying there on the workbench, nearly took his breath away. It was his very first guitar - an acoustic he’d bought second-hand, and although cheap and of very little musical value, he’d gotten Tim Staffel to re-fret and modify it to suit his needs, then went out and bought some Teach Yourself manuals, and started to learn to play. He’d soon moved onto a better white Fender Telecaster electric guitar, while the first guitar had malingered, collecting dust in his parent’s home, until one day it had found its way into the loft at Garden Lodge. Together Jim and Brian had completely restored it and now it looked as new and sleek as the day it had been made. They explained it was a gift for Little Freddie, to give him something new to play around with while he was under restriction.

“We thought maybe you could show him a few things,” Brian said. “Because despite what you tell the audiences – we all know you know more than just three chords!” Freddie was actually damn good on the guitar in Brian’s opinion. He had after all written several songs on the guitar – some of his earliest songs (before Queen), and later _Ogre Battle_ and _Crazy Little Thing Called Love_ , as well as certain riffs for _Stone Cold Crazy_ , _Death On Two Legs_ , _Bohemian Rhapsody_ , and _Princes of the Universe_.

Freddie just stood there staring.

“Well?” Brian asked. Then he gasped in mock surprise and looked at Jim. “Have we actually managed to make Freddie Mercury speechless?” When Freddie still didn’t say anything, Brian grew a little concerned. “Freddie, you ok?”

At last Freddie seemed to snap back to himself and he walked over, trying hard to hold back his emotions, and wrapped his arms around their necks. “Thank you,” he said. “You don’t know what this means to me.”

“Oh, well, of course, Freddie,” Brian said, returning his embrace. “We were glad to do it.”

*******

Little Freddie was in his room when he heard the doorbell go downstairs.

"Freddie could you get that for me please, sweetheart?" Mary called from the bathroom. "I'm giving Richard a bath."

"Sure, Mum!" he called back. He made his way downstairs and opened the front door. "Oh, hey Dad! Hey, Papa Jim! Hey, Mr. May! Come in." He opened the door for them to come inside.

"Where's your mum?" Freddie asked.

"She's giving Richard a bath," Little Freddie told him. "Mum, Dad, and Papa Jim, and Mr. May are here!" he called. Then he took them into the sitting room. Just then Kashmira ran in.

“Daddy! Papa Jim!” she hugged them both and the turned to Brian. “Mr. May!”

“Ah, there she is! The lovely Kashmira!” Brian said, returning her hug. “How are you sweetheart?”

“Do you want something to drink? Do you want some tea?” Little Freddie asked. It would have been different if it was just his Dad and Jim, but since Brian was there, he felt he needed to use his host manners, something his mum had instilled in him since he was little. 

“When a guest comes to your house, you always offer them something to drink,” she had told him. She even made him do that when Felix and Jimmy and Robert came over. “Freddie, did you offer your guests something to drink?” she would ask him. 

“But Mum they already know they can just get whatever they want,” Little Freddie would protest, but Mary wouldn’t have it. So with a sigh Little Freddie would turn around.

“Do you want something to drink?” he would mumble while Felix and the others would fight to hold back snickers.

“Oh, no, thank you very much, Freddie,” Brian said. “Unfortunately, I’m afraid I can’t stay very long. We’ve just got a little something for you here to fool around with to hopefully make your time on punishment go by a little faster. But I wouldn’t mention that to your mum though, Freddie,” he told him with a wink. “It was all Jim’s idea really, I just helped him out a bit.”

“I wanted to give it to you before I went away on holiday,” Jim added.

When they brought the case out from behind them and gave it to him, Little Freddie gasped, his mouth dropping open. He set the case, the same kind of case Ratty had got for Brian to protect his Red Special, down on the table, then sat down on the sofa and unlatched and opened it.

"Ah!" He ran his hand over the smooth surface, which Freddie had autographed at the insistence of Jim and Brian, with a felt-tip pen, adding below it a special note for Little Freddie: Just go for it - my love is with you always.

"That was my very first guitar," Freddie told him from where he sat in an arm chair with Kashmira on his knee, arms wrapped around his neck. "Jim and Brian have been working on it all week, but they wouldn't tell me what they were doing."

“I don’t know much about these things, you know,” Jim said. “But I just figured it was about time you had your own guitar. Especially after that article in the magazine.”

“This will give you a new angle to compose from,” Brian mentioned. “And as I’m sure you already know, you can write a song on the piano or keyboard, and then later if you need to, you can always adapt it or translate it onto the guitar or vice versa, though I’ve personally always found it a bit more difficult to do the other way around.”

Little Freddie blew out a short of shaky breath. "Oh, thank you so much!" He came over and hugged Jim and Brian.

“You’re more than welcome, Freddie,” Brian told him. “I hope you enjoy it.”

Then Little Freddie went over and hugged his father. "Thanks, Dad!" He went back over to the sofa and took the guitar from its case. Having grown up his whole life around his dad, Brian, Roger, and John, he was far from helpless on the guitar - he certainly knew his barre chords, and even felt confident enough to venture well into the "no man's land" beyond the third fret, but it was just that he'd never had a guitar all his own before. He began playing a snatch of The Who's [_Pinball Wizard_](https://youtu.be/3xZzGtDW2p4), when a freshly bathed Richard ran into the room followed by Mary.

"Da-Da!" Richard shouted, running straight to Freddie who took him in his lap.

“Mum, look!” Little Freddie told her excitedly. “It’s dad’s first guitar. Papa Jim and Mr. May fixed it up for me.”

“Oh, Freddie, it’s beautiful,” she said breathlessly, placing a hand to her chest. Then she came over and hugged Jim, Brian, and Freddie as well. “Thank you so much for doing this for him. I know it means so much to him.”

“Well, I’d better be going,” Brian said, and he and Freddie and Jim prepared to leave. Little Freddie came over to say goodbye and to hug and thank them again.

"Bye, Papa Jim," Little Freddie said to Jim. "I hope you have a good time in Ireland. Say hello to _Maimeó_ and _Daideó_ for us." _Maimeó_ (Irish - Gaelic - grandmother) and _Daideó_ (Irish - Gaelic- grandfather) were of course Jim's parents, whom Little Freddie and Kashmira had met only once when they'd accompanied their father when he and Queen had played at Slane Castle in Ireland. They had instantly fallen in love with Little Freddie and Kashmira and accepted them as their grandchildren, and still kept in close contact by phone and post.

"I will," Jim assured him. He looked around, first making sure Mary was sufficiently distracted talking to Freddie. "And I'm going to show them this." He pulled a copy of the magazine article from his jacket pocket. "This too." He also had another copy of their show at The Marquee that Phoebe had taped for Freddie. "I know they're going to be so proud when they see it." Little Freddie hugged him tight. Jim just chuckled and returned his hug, patting and rubbing his back.

*******

Things got a little wild over at Garden Lodge after Brian had left and Freddie gave Phoebe and Joe the night off. Freddie and Jim weren't going to be seeing each other for a whole week after all and Freddie wanted to, ahem, say goodbye properly. But a night spent drinking a bottle of Stoli and vintage port between them, resulted in two killer hangovers the next morning, a damaged chandelier, and a broken piano - Freddie having learned the hard way that perhaps he was no longer quite the young man that had been photographed by the French media swinging naked from the chandelier at Roger's 29th birthday party at a hotel in Montreux.

"Don't worry about it, Freddie," Phoebe, who sounded to Freddie like he was getting a cold, said with a sniff. "I'm already on it. The chandelier repairman will be here tomorrow. He comes highly recommended by our two bin men."

“Oh, you mean [George and Oliver](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21205784/chapters/51177418)?” Freddie asked. He nodded to himself. “Well then I know he’ll do a good job.”

“Yes,” Phoebe said. “And your new piano is being delivered on Sunday.”

Then Freddie and Phoebe said their goodbyes to Jim and Joe, who was also going on holiday to visit his family in America, before Terry took them to the airport. What with Jim and Joe both being gone, and Phoebe not feeling well, things were pretty quiet in the house after that, lonely even, and though he hated to admit it, as Freddie lie there alone in bed that night, a bed that felt so much larger somehow, he missed Jim's snores.

"Somebody been swingin' from tha chandelier 'ave they?" the repairman, a man named Thomas Thomas, his first name and surname being the same, joked laughing when he came to take a look at the chandelier the next day.

"Yeah, me," Freddie told him deadly serious and he thought the man's eyes were going to pop right out of his head. Then he burst out laughing. "I was just joking, darling. We were just in here having our tea-"

 _Having tea?_ , Phoebe thought to himself. _Is that what they were calling it now?_

"-when all of a sudden it just fell down like that all by itself and smashed the piano," Freddie said, giving Phoebe an amused look behind the man's back.

"Oh! Heh heh,” the man laughed, clearly relieved.

“Thank God no harm came to my person. The thing only just missed me – I might have been killed,” Freddie added dramatically as the man turned to examine the chandelier.

“Hmmm. Some of tha screws must of come loose," he said. "But no worries, mate. I'll 'ave it fixed in no time."

"Well I certainly hope he screwed it in tighter this time," Phoebe said casually to Freddie after the repairman had left. "In case you and Jim ever decide to... _have tea_ in here again."

Freddie tried to frown but they both burst out laughing instead.

Later Brian, Roger, and John came over and Freddie was sure to keep the door to the room where he kept his piano firmly closed as he felt a bit embarrassed and didn’t think they would buy the whole _“we were just drinking tea excuse”_ (although he would bashfully admit to them what had really happened the next day when they went out for lunch and drinks at Richoux).

That night the dreams he’d been having returned with a vengeance. He awoke terrified, so much so that all he could do for a few moments was lay there shivering beneath the sweat-soaked sheets. Then he got up and ran into the bathroom. Flicking on the lights, with trembling fingers he examined every inch of his face and skin searching for lesions, of which of course he found none. It was just his normal skin – the same old Freddie staring back at him in the mirror, as he leant on his hands against the bathroom counter trying to calm himself. But the dream had felt so real, he was having a hard time shaking it. As his breathing and the pounding of his heart slowly returned to normal, he straightened up and made his way back into the bedroom, but the deep sense of foreboding lingered. As he passed by the window, that’s when he saw that Mary’s kitchen light was on…

*******

“Hello?” Mary said when she picked up the phone. It was of course Freddie on the other line.

"Hey, darling, it's me," he said. "I saw your light on. Is everything alright? Is Richard sick again?"

"Oh no no! We're all alright over here. I just couldn't sleep," Mary sighed.

"What's wrong?" Freddie asked her.

"Oh nothing. I just worry about Freddie so much sometimes. I-"

"Come on over and let's talk about it," Freddie said. "There's something I've been wanting to show you anyway."

"Alright," Mary agreed. "Just let me look in on the children."

After they rang off, she looked in on Kashmira, then went into the nursery and got Richard out of his cot, then she went to Little Freddie's room.

"Freddie?" she knocked softly at the door before going in. He was asleep so she went over to his bed.

"Darling," she whispered, gently waking him. "I'm going over to your dad's for a bit."

"What's wrong?" Little Freddie asked, slightly alarmed.

"Nothing's wrong, darling," Mary assured him. "I just think he couldn't sleep and wanted somebody to talk to." She didn't want to tell him that it was actually her who couldn't sleep. "Can Richard sleep in here with you while I'm gone?"

"Of course," Little Freddie said. He pulled back his covers and Mary put the still sleeping Richard down beside him. Little Freddie kissed him and put his arm around him, snuggling him close, before pulling the covers back up over them.

"Thank you, darling," Mary told him. "If you need anything just call over to your dad's. But I shouldn't be long." She bent down and kissed him and Richard both and then left, closing the door quietly behind her except for a small crack.

*******

Over at Garden Lodge, Mary fixed her and Freddie a cup of tea as Freddie certainly didn't know how, and they didn't want to disturb Phoebe who was asleep and not feeling well. Then they went into the sitting room, presumably so Freddie could show her whatever it was he was wanting to show her. He disappeared for a moment, but soon returned with a video tape.

Mary gave him a look. "Freddie, is that the Prince tape again?"

"No," Freddie said defensively. He put the tape on and it was video of The Sons of Queen's performance at The Marquee.

"Freddie, where did you get this tape?" Mary asked.

"Oh, I had Phoebe-" Freddie began but instantly realized his mistake. "I mean- s-some-somebody, somebody just thought I might want a copy of it," he said, turning away from her towards the television screen.

"Hmmm," Mary said. 

Freddie just cleared his throat and turned up the volume.

So they sat and watched (Freddie was sure to distract Mary and fast forward through the part where Little Freddie was smoking. "It was just a prop, Dad, I swear!" Little Freddie told him later when he confronted him about it.) And as they watched, Mary was overwhelmed by such a feeling of pride that it caught her breath and brought tears to her eyes - seeing in him the same talent and intelligence of his father, and the wonderful man he was fast becoming. That was her son up there on that stage - her son giving everything to his performance as if nothing else mattered, and her son that the crowd cheered for, shouting his name. But after Freddie also showed her the magazine article, she couldn't hold back her tears anymore, reading the words they'd written about her boy. Freddie brought her a tissue, then sat back down beside her.

"Listen, darling, I know you worry about him and you're scared. And even though it probably doesn't seem like it, I get scared sometimes too, you know, about what the future holds and things like that," he said, thinking about the dreams he'd been having. "It's not that I condone what Freddie did. It was wrong and he shouldn't have done it, and he deserved to be punished for it, but the reason I wanted to show you all this is so you would understand _why_ he did it. That feeling - the surge of excitement you get when you're up there on that stage and the audience is going wild for you - is unlike anything else It can't be equaled. It's greater than sex or the high from any drug. It is pure ecstasy and euphoria," he told her. "I agree he needs boundaries and rules and consequences for when he breaks those rules. But please just don't take that away from him." He motioned to the television screen. "Because sometimes, darling, music is the thing that keeps me together. It’s like a shield for me – my musical abilities. I can fend off all kinds of things. I’ve built a structure, a kind of musical belief in myself, and that keeps me going. So if someone were to say to me, 'Right. Stop making music.' They may as well ask me to stop breathing. And I'm sure it's the same way for him." He put his arms around Mary and held her close, rubbing her back. "He's a good kid. A smart kid. And at the end of the day, darling, we just have to trust him and the job we've done as parents in raising him. And I think we've done a damn good job." And he gave her a kiss.

*******

Later that morning, Mary was preparing to take Kashmira and Richard to the birthday party. Little Freddie was outside in the garden working on his new chore list:

1\. Cut the grass

2\. Wash the car

3\. Trim the hedges

4\. Paint the fence

5\. Clean the pool

6\. Defrost the fridge

7\. Clean out the garage

8\. Sweep the chimney

He was squatted down making sure the lawnmower had enough petrol when his mother came to the door.

"Freddie, would you come inside for a moment, please? I want to talk to you about something."

"Yes, ma'am," he said standing up. He followed her inside and into the sitting room where Kashmira sat on the sofa and Richard played nearby.

"Kashmira, sweetheart, would you mind taking Richard upstairs to play in the nursery?" Mary asked. "I need to talk to Freddie for a moment, and then we'll be leaving for the birthday party."

"Sit down, darling," Mary said to Little Freddie after Kashmira and Richard had gone upstairs. So Little Freddie sat down and his mother sat down beside him, taking his hands in hers. "Darling, I know I've been hard on you, but I just wanted to explain to you why." She sighed. "Freddie I know how much you love your music and how important it is to you," she said, reaching out to touch his face. "But so are things like getting a good education-"

"I know." Little Freddie hung his head.

"You see sometimes, Freddie, we have to change the way we think about things. Look at them from a different angle," Mary explained. "Having a good education will help you in any career you choose - even being a rock star."

Little Freddie looked at her a bit skeptically.

"No, I mean it!" Mary told him. "You'll sound intelligent and well-spoken in your interviews. And being well-versed in art, history, and literature, can give you inspiration for songs - just ask your father. And maths will help you keep track of your money and make sound financial decisions. Do you understand?"

Little Freddie nodded his head.

"But even more important than all that, is learning to set boundaries for yourself," Mary said. "Freddie you're about to enter a world that most people can only dream of. Everything will be open to you - fame and fortune; alcohol, drugs, money, sex, women...And that can lead to a very hedonistic lifestyle. A lifestyle that can destroy. It's very easy to feel invincible and that there are no consequences...but there always consequences even if they aren't immediately apparent. Just think of all the young men rock music has lost because they couldn't control themselves - Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Keith Moon, Bon Scott, John Bonham," she said, hoping she'd remembered all the names Freddie had told her. "And that is my greatest fear, Freddie. Losing you!" She hugged him tight.

"Mum, please don't cry," Little Freddie wrapped his arms around her. "That's not going to happen to me because you and dad raised me better than that. I'm too intelligent for that. Dad and the others have always taught us that nothing good comes from letting those sorts of things take over and control you. You have to rule over it and keep one foot on the ground. Otherwise your music will suffer. And we love our music too much to let it suffer. Besides I love my family and Mary too much to hurt them like that," he told her. "And I'm really sorry about sneaking out and all the other things. It was wrong and I shouldn't have done it. But I promise I'm not going to do that anymore. Even Felix said that when he was here the other day - from now on we're going strictly by the contract."

Mary let go of him and wiped at her eyes with a thumb. "I really wish you would have told me about your show. I would have loved to come and see you perform! And I know so would Nana and Grandad and your Dādī and Dādā and your Auntie Kash. Why didn't you tell me?"

"I was afraid you'd say no," Little Freddie told her.

"Well, I wouldn't have," Mary told him.

"You wouldn't?" Little Freddie asked.

"No," Mary said. "I'm not as cold and heartless as you and the others seem to think I am. I mean obviously you can't be staying out that late every night. But for a show as big as this one I would have been willing to compromise." She took his hands in hers again. "I want us to promise each other that from now on we'll be honest with one another and that we'll _both_ be willing to keep an open mind and compromise. Do you think we can do that?"

"Yeah," Little Freddie agreed, wrapping his arms around her. "I love you mum," he told her, his voice muffled against her shoulder. "And I'm sorry about the show."

"It's alright, darling," she told him, giving him a kiss. "I'm sure there'll be plenty more for me to come to. And actually I did get to see your show on a tape over at your dad's house. And read the magazine article. I thought you and the others were just brilliant, darling. I was so proud seeing you up there performing and reading what they wrote about you." She gently touched his face.

"Speaking of that, and since we're being honest with each other, I have to tell you something," Little Freddie said. He sighed, looking down. "I know you said nothing professional before I'm 18 but...this man Jacob Williams from EMI came to the show to see us and they want to sign us. The man he works for at EMI, Jack Jones, is supposed to be calling Miami to set up a meeting with us in his office to go over the deal and sign the contract." He looked up then to see what her reaction would be.

Mary took a deep breath. "Well, that's a very big step, Freddie," she said. "I'm not saying no, but I'm not making any promises either. We need to think hard about this. And all the rules about your school work and everything else still apply until you turn 18. But we'll talk it over with your father and then see what happens, alright?"

"Alright," Little Freddie nodded. Maybe was definitely better than no.

"But for now…" Mary got up off the sofa and walked out into the hall. 

Little Freddie was puzzled until she came back and he saw his car keys in her hand. He gasped.

"You're still being punished," Mary told him. "But you may go over to Felix's house for one hour."

Little Freddie came over and hugged her tight "Oh, thank you, Mum! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

"May I go now?" he asked excitedly.

"Yes, you may go now. You may stay over there for one hour," she reminded him as he squeezed her so tightly so could barely breathe. "And I know exactly how long it takes to drive to and from Felix's house."

"Yes, ma'am," Little Freddie said. He kissed her on the cheek. "Thanks, Mum." And with that he was out the door.

***BONUS* Here are some pictures of Freddie playing guitar. 🎸**


	12. Freddie To Fall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry about my late update schedule recently :( I have no excuses other than writing's hard work and takes time and life gets in the way sometimes.
> 
> If you're a sucker for Hurt/Comfort you are hopefully going to love this chapter. Super fluffy! It borrows heavily from Chapter 3 of one of my other stories in this series - I'm Goin' Back. In case you haven't guessed by now, all of my stories are connected to each other in one way or another. I love tying them all together.
> 
> Anyways, thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoy it :)

Mary smiled to herself then headed towards the stairs to call down Kashmira and Richard.

"Kashmira, Richard, are you ready to-"

Suddenly, Little Freddie came back in through the front door.

"Mum, I know I'm not supposed to use the phone," he said. "But could I maybe call Felix for just a minute to make sure he's home first before I drive all the way over there?"

"Of course, darling, that's fine," Mary told him

"Alright, thanks, Mum," Little Freddie said to her before she continued upstairs. He went over to the phone and rang Felix's number. Luckily he picked up right away, sounding as if he'd just been asleep.

"Hello?"

"Hey, mate, it's me," Little Freddie said.

"Oh, hey, Freddie, mate!" Felix brightened up immediately. "What's happening? I thought your mum wasn't letting you use the phone."

"She's letting me off for a bit," Little Freddie explained. "She said I could come over to your house for an hour - that is if you want me to. But I thought I'd better call first and-"

"Shut up and get your arse over here now, mate!" Felix was absolutely overjoyed.

Little Freddie just laughed. Felix didn't even get this excited when his girlfriend Barbie was coming over. 

"I'll call Robert and Jimmy," Felix said, with what sounded to Little Freddie like a sniffle.

"Are you crying, mate?" Little Freddie asked, amused.

"No!" Felix insisted as he wiped manly tears of joy from his eyes.

"Oh, oh, Felix!" Little Freddie stopped Felix before he rang off. He cast his eyes upwards, making sure his mother wasn't anywhere near the stairs. "Would it be alright if Mary came over as well?"

"Of course, mate!" Felix told him. "You know my dad says Mary is welcome over here any time. Barbie’ll be here, and Robert'll probably bring Charlie too. And maybe Jimmy’ll bring Peaches 2.0.”

[Peaches 2.0, as they called her, was Jimmy’s girlfriend, a Southern belle who hailed from New Orleans, but had come to England on a student visa. Brian upon meeting her had remarked much to Jimmy’s chagrin, “You know what’s funny? I used to have a crush on a girl named Peaches who I met at a bar in New Orleans back in 1974 when we were touring there with Mott The Hoople.” Then, to all their amazement, the girl went on to explain that Peaches wasn’t her real name at all, but a nickname given to her by her mother for whom she was named - Deborah Vidacovich. Brian inhaled sharply. Deborah Vidacovich had been his Peaches real name. And now by some strange coincidence of the universe here stood her daughter, his son’s girlfriend. Even more bizarrely, Peaches worked part-time in The Tavern part of a place called [The London Dungeon](https://www.thedungeons.com/london/), a tourist attraction along London’s South Bank consisting of a mixture of live actors, special effects, and rides, which recreated various gory and macabre historical events in a gallows humour style; while her mother had worked in a rock n’ roll bar on Toulouse Street, near Bourbon Street, also called “The Dungeon”, which is where Brian had met her. He had been completely smitten with Deborah during the tour, but tragically, their relationship ended prematurely in May of 1974 because of his accidental infection with hepatitis from a tainted needle. But Brian had been determined and eager to get her back, and had even written about her in the song – [Now I’m Here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KTGC0Fm7us&ab_channel=Queen-Topic) _– “down in The Dungeon just Peaches and me”_. They’d met again years later, but sadly things hadn’t worked out that time either, which became the inspiration for the other song Brian had written about her – [It’s Late](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PItMuGp39Q&ab_channel=QueenOfficial). But realizing how much Jimmy loved Peaches, and that this revelation would perhaps make things awkward between them, he lied. “Ah, well, mine must have been some other Peaches,” he told them. “That wasn’t her name.” And he hoped they couldn’t see the sadness in his eyes. Deborah must have decided the same when her daughter called her later and had asked, “Mom, didn’t you say you used to date a guitarist named Brian May for a band called Queen?” “No, no, dear. His name was Byron Grey, guitarist for a small time band called King that didn’t end up going anywhere,” she said the first thing that popped into her mind. ‘Although I could see how somebody might easily confuse them – the names being so similar.” And amazingly her daughter believed it. And Deborah and Brian both knew deep inside themselves, that should they ever meet again in person one day, perhaps a spark of recognition and of memories shared might pass silently between their eyes, but for the sake of their children, they would never acknowledge it aloud.]

“So if you bring Mary,” Felix said, “they can all talk about their hair, and nails, and makeup, or whatever it is girls talk about, while we practice."

They rang off after that and Little Freddie headed for the front door again. "Mum, I'm leaving," he called, but just as his hand touched the door knob, that's when he remembered that he'd left the lawn mower out. _Shit!_ "I-I'm just going to put the lawn mower away first!" he shouted. He went out quickly into the back garden and put the lawn mower away in the shed, locking it with the keys still in his pocket. When he came back inside, he put the keys to the shed where they belonged, then thought about his guitar. He went upstairs and got the case from his room.

Mary met him in the hallway. “Still here?” she smiled.

“Yes, but I’m leaving now,” Little Freddie said. “Felix was home and he said I could come over. I put the lawn mower in the shed and put the keys back where they go,” he told her. “And I thought I’d take my guitar to show the others.”

And Mary could see the pride shining in his eyes. “Alright, darling, be safe,” she told him, kissing his cheek.

“Yes, ma’am. I will,” he answered.

“One hour,” she reminded him yet again.

“Yes, ma’am,” he said, returning her kiss. “Bye.”

*******

Fortunately, Mary’s house in Wimbledon was on the way to Felix’s house in Thursley, so it wouldn’t cause him any significant delay. He just hoped she was home. He parked at the kerb in front of her house and went up to the front door. Mary came to the door as soon as he knocked.

"Freddie!" she cried, wrapping her arms around his neck. "What are you doing here?"

"My mum said I could go over to Felix's house for an hour. You want to come?" he asked, as he held her close, breathing in the comforting scent of her hair.

"Yeah! Let me just ask my parents first." She released him and turned to open the door. "You want to come inside?" she asked.

"No, no, I'll just wait here," he told her, and he hoped she would be quick.

In less than a minute, she was back at the door with her jacket on. "Ready!"

They went out to his car and he opened the door for her, then came around and got in himself and turned the key in the ignition.

"What's this?" Mary asked when she saw his guitar case.

"Oh, that's my new guitar. Papa Jim and Mr. May and my dad gave it to me," he told her. "It's actually my dad's first guitar, and Papa Jim and Mr. May fixed it up for me."

"Can I see it?" she asked.

"Sure," Little Freddie told her.

She undid the latches. "Oh, wow, Freddie! It's gorgeous," she said, running her fingertips across the guitar's polished wooden surface. "Can I take it out?"

"Yeah, go ahead," Little Freddie said. She took it out carefully and set it in her lap, and he couldn't help but smile - she looked so pretty with his guitar across her knees, strumming gently at the strings. He imagined himself sitting pressed up close behind her, teaching her the chords.

"This is A," he'd say, moving her fingers into the correct position. "And this is B, C, D, E, F, G." They'd laugh and then he'd lean down and…

The sudden blast of a horn brought him out of his reverie, and he realized he was getting a bit too close to the other lane. 

"Shit!" He quickly got back over. "Sorry," he apologized, eyes forward.

Mary gave him an amused smile. "Maybe, I'd better put this back," she said, returning the guitar to its case.

*******

They were the first to arrive at Felix's house, where they found he and his dad out in the garage, both of them up to their elbows in motor grease, working on Loretta, Roger's old 1975 Alfa Romeo Spider that he'd given to Felix. Felix's girlfriend Barbie was sat on a stool off to the side.

Felix came over to greet Little Freddie, wiping his hands on a rag, and Barbie came over to talk to Mary. "Hey, Freddie, mate!" Felix said clasping his hand. "So your old lady let you out, huh?"

"Yeah, but I can only stay for one hour," Little Freddie told him.

"Alright, mate, well Jimmy and Robert should be here soon," Felix said. "Jimmy's getting a ride with his dad 'cause his car's in the garage (shop) or something. He's not bringing Peaches though 'cause she's working. Robert's dad is coming with him too 'cause something's wrong with one of his amps and his dad's going to take a look at it when they get here."

Just then Robert, John, and Charlie pulled up in Robert's Porsche 911 that had once belonged to his father. Charlie carried the amp from the car and set it down on the garage floor, then went over and joined Mary and Barbie.

"Felix!" Barbie called.

"What?" he said, back beneath Loretta's hood.

"We're going to bathroom, babe," Barbie told him, as she and the other girls headed inside.

"Alright," Felix said, then began singing to himself softly beneath his breath:

_When my hand's on your grease gun_

_Oh it's like a disease, son_

_I'm in love with my car…_

And Roger couldn't help but smile.

Meanwhile, John was down on his knees wielding a screwdriver, with Little Freddie and Robert staring down at him anxiously.

"Do you think you'll be able to fix it, Mr. Deacon?" asked Little Freddie, ever polite.

"Yeah, do you think you'll be able to fix it, Dad?" Robert said.

Thankfully the amp hadn't needed too much repairing, and John was almost finished. _Just one_ _last little thing here…_

"There you are, boys. That should do it," he said, standing up.

"Oh, thank you so much, Mr. Deacon!"

"Yeah, thanks, Dad. You're the best," Robert told him, slinging an arm around his shoulders.

John looked over at Roger.

"Well, this was convenient wasn't it, Deacy?" Roger said to him with a laugh when he was sure none of the boys were listening.

"Well, come on, Felix. Hurry up, mate! He's got it fixed now," Little Freddie and Robert called to Felix.

"Alright. I'm coming, I'm coming. Don't get your knickers in a twist." Felix wiped his hands on a rag, and then took his drumsticks out of his back pocket, twirling them in his hands. Roger turned to him, and put a hand on his shoulder.

“You know, Felix, son, I don’t tell you nearly enough, but I’m proud of you. Really,” he told him.

“Thanks, Dad,” Felix said with a smile. Then he came over to where the other boys were. “What’s the big hurry, then? Our guitarist hasn’t even got here yet, has he?” 

Just then Brian’s car pulled up outside.

“Speak of the devil…”

As soon as they pulled up, Jimmy opened the door to get out, and it looked to the others as if things might not have been going so well between him and his dad:

“Jimmy, wait…” Brian said.

“Dad, I’ve got to get plugged in!” Jimmy shouted, slamming the door and going around to the boot of the car to get his guitar out. Brian got out as well and followed him around to the back of the car.

“Jimmy, please just listen to me for a moment, alright?”

Jimmy didn’t look at him, but appeared to be listening.

“I just want to say I’m sorry about the way things worked out with your mum. When you’re young, you think things are going to last forever. But things happen – life isn’t always easy, and sometimes people change.”

“Yeah, some people decide to become cheaters…”

“That’s fair. I deserve that,” Brian admitted. “And there’s not one day that I don’t wake up and regret the pain I’ve caused your mother and you, and Louisa, and Emily Ruth. But just because your mum and I aren’t in love with each other anymore, doesn’t mean I don’t still love her and care about her, because I do, very much. And I’m always going to be there for you, and Louisa, and Emily Ruth, no matter what.”

“Psh. Yeah, and how’s that worked out for you so far?” Jimmy mumbled under his breath.

“What?” Brian asked, genuinely having not heard.

“I’m just saying, we had this same talk about, what, three years ago? So I’m good,” Jimmy told him. “This same talk about how even though you and mum aren’t in love with each other anymore, but the both of you still love us, and how it’s not our fault, nothing we’ve done has caused this, and how nothing is going to change for us. But guess what, Dad? It has changed. Our lives have become a living hell, thanks to you.” Jimmy slammed the boot shut, and stalked away.

“Jimmy, wait…” Brian called again. Jimmy stopped, but didn’t turn around. “Please…I-I just want to make things better between us.” Jimmy did turn around then.

“Alright. Then stay and hear us play.”

“I can’t. I’m sorry. I’ve got to meet Roger and John over at Freddie’s house, and-”

Jimmy just shook his head. “You know what, Dad? Just forget it. Just go. I’ll see later.”

“No, Jimmy, wait!” Brian shouted. “I’ll-I’ll stay.”

“Alright. Come on, then,” Jimmy said to him. So Brian followed him into the garage, and he was glad he did, because here were Roger and John both, and now they could all ride together over to Freddie’s house.

Little Freddie himself was quite surprised and happy for Jimmy to see that Brian was staying as this was the first time he'd ever come to one of their practices in the nearly four years since they'd formed the band. But he knew from Jimmy that Brian had had marital problems with his wife Chrissie for the past five years or so, and he'd began seeing a new woman - Anita Dobson, star of the soap opera EastEnders. Chrissie and Brian's relationship had ultimately ended in divorce about three years ago. Little Freddie wasn't judging, mind you, and he knew it must have been hard on both Brian and Jimmy, and that Jimmy harbored a deep grudge and resentment against his father for the pain that it had caused he and his siblings and his mother. But he hoped that perhaps Brian's staying to hear them play was a sign that things were finally getting better between them.

Jimmy rushed to get plugged in, and Brian helped him put on his guitar. Then he, Roger, and John stood back, and Brian couldn’t help but get a little choked up with pride seeing their sons standing there like that ready to rock n’ roll. Little Freddie struck a pose, completely reminiscent of his father.

“This one’s called _The Sons of Queen_ ,” he told them, and as the others began playing, he sang:

_Using what our daddies gave us to make our dough_

_Yeah, we’re really gonna put on a show_

_When they see us up on stage, you know all them little girlies gonna sigh_

_Make their mamas break down and cry_

_Saying: Stay at home, sugar, those are some bad, bad boys_

_Well, that’s right, honey! Stay at home and listen to your mama now. Don’t you know who we_ _are?_

_We are The Sons of Queen_

_Like nothing you ain’t ever seen_

_‘Cause baby it’s time to de-stress_

_Maybe even undress_

_If you know what I mean_

_Wanna hear you scream: Oh, Freddie!!!_

The music stopped abruptly as all the boys fell apart laughing. The high-falsetto Oh, Freddie!!! was completely unexpected, having been ad-libbed on Little Freddie’s part.

“No, no, mate. Keep that bit in. That was nice,” Felix told him. As the boys laughed and discussed the song, Brian, Roger, and John decided they’d better be getting over to Freddie’s house now.

“Alright, boys. Behave yourselves. We’re heading over to Garden Lodge. Freddie’s having a new piano delivered, and he wants to show it off to us I suppose,” Roger told them.

"Yes, sir, Mr. Taylor," Little Freddie responded, and Brian and the others couldn’t help but marvel at the exquisite manners of this seventeen-year-old boy, and future rock star. Freddie had definitely raised him to be a gentleman, and raised him right. Then they all got into Brian’s car, and made their way towards Garden Lodge.

*******

After they’d finished practicing, before leaving, Little Freddie showed them his guitar.

“Ah, that’s well mint, mate! Very cool,” Felix told him, as they all admired the instrument. “Now you'd best get started writing a song you can play on it, because there's no way you can't bring that on stage with you, mate. You think all the girls are dropping the knickers for you now- Oh, uh, no offense, Mary," Felix said, turning to Mary.

"None taken, Felix," she told him with a smile.

Felix whistled. "Huh. Just wait until you bring that guitar on stage with you to play a song and say something like, 'This is my dad's very first guitar which he passed down to me.' Girls love that sort of sentimental shit. They'll eat it up! They'll go wild! I'm tellin' ya, mate. They'll be all like, 'Oh, my God! Did you hear that? That's so sweet!'"

Little Freddie just laughed.

Then Felix grew serious. "Miami called, mate. That EMI guy Jacob Williams and his boss Jack Jones want to meet with us at his office on next Sunday. Of course Miami will be there and all of our dads are coming too, to make sure we get a good deal," he said. "Do you think your mum's gonna let you sign?"

"I don't know, mate," Little Freddie answered him honestly. "I hope so. She said we'll have to talk to my dad about it and then see what happens. But that's better than 'no', you know, so…But anyway, I'm workin' on it. And I think my dad is, too." He smiled. "But I mean it's got to be a good sign that she let me out for a bit today though, right?"

"Yeah, right, mate," Felix smiled back as they clasped hands. "I'm sure your dad'll convince her to let you sign."

*******

Little Freddie made sure he left early enough to drop Mary off at her house and still make it back home in time. He walked her up to the front door to say goodbye and hugged her tight.

“I’m so glad I got to see you.”

Mary pulled back slightly, cocking an eyebrow. “Are you sure it wasn’t just Felix you were happy to see?”

“Nah. He doesn’t kiss as good,” Little Freddie joked, leaning down to kiss her lips. “And his arse doesn’t look as good in a pair of jeans either.” He turned her slightly to get a good view. Mary smiled and rolled her eyes good-naturedly.

“Speaking of arses,” she said, “turn round here a bit.”

“What?” Little Freddie asked as she took him by the arm and turned him a bit to the left. Then, keeping a firm grip on his bicep, she raised her other hand, and smacked him hard three times on the arse.

“Ow!” he laughed, putting his hand back. “What-what was that for?” Even though they were just playing around with each other, and Mary hadn’t smacked him nearly as hard as she might have, it was apparent that she was quite capable of giving a good smack, and Little Freddie felt sorry for their future children should they ever choose to disobey her. But he knew one day she would make a great mum.

“I told you if you got into trouble again, Freddie Mercury, I was going to spank you myself,” she mock scolded him with her finger.

Little Freddie grinned. Then he took her face in his hands, stroking back her hair. “Listen, Mary. I know I joke around a lot, but I promise I’m not going to get into trouble anymore. You know, forget everything else-” He waved his hand dismissively. “The worst punishment my mum could have ever given me was not being able to see you. And I really mean that. I’ve learnt my lesson this time. I can’t do that anymore.” He hugged her tight. “I’m promise I’ll be a good boy from now on.” They laughed.

“You’d better,” Mary told him, taking him by the front of the shirt. “Or next time I’m getting my hairbrush. You hear me?”

Little Freddie grinned again. “I hear you,” he said. “But maybe my mum’ll loosen up a bit now and let you start coming over again. Or let me out for a bit again sometime.”

“Maybe,” Mary agreed. “But if not, three more weeks isn’t that long. And we’ve still got our trusty carrier parrots to see us through.” She smiled. “Really ingenious idea that.”

Little Freddie sighed. As much as he hated it and didn’t want to, he had to leave now. “Well, I’ve got to go,” he said. He bent down and kissed and hugged her again. “I love you so much.”

“I love you so much too,” she told him. “Always. No matter what.” Then she smacked him on the arse again.

“Ow!” Little Freddie complained, rubbing his bum. “Abusive you.”

“Be good,” Mary told him, threatening him with her finger.

“Yes, ma’am. I will,” he said, giving her one final kiss, then walked away exaggeratedly rubbing his bum for her benefit.

He made it back home in plenty of time. As soon as he got there, after putting his guitar in his room, he went out to the back garden and unlocked the shed, then got the lawn mower out and started on his chore list again. But he didn’t mind really. Getting to see Mary and Felix and the others, plus the earlier talk with his mum, and the possibility that she just might let him sign with EMI after all, all those things were like a shot in the arm, and gave him a fresh incentive to do his best. And even Mary was surprised and impressed at how much he’d been able to get done by the time she got back home from the birthday party with Kashmira and Richard.

*******

Later that night, after Little Freddie had cleared the dinner table and washed up the dishes (without his mother even having to have asked him), he was sat on his bed in his room, fiddling on his guitar, when he thought he heard what sounded like the noise of an ambulance going up the street. He laid his guitar down and went to look out the window, but he didn’t see anything. It was getting late, so he put his guitar away, got ready for bed, and went to sleep. He supposed it must have been around 9:30, but about an hour and a half later, his mum came into his room and woke him up. 

“Freddie,” she said, shaking him gently, and when he woke up, even in the darkness, he could tell from the look on her face that something was wrong. He sat up immediately and turned on the light. 

“What’s the matter, Mum? What’s wrong?”

“Everything’s alright, darling,” Mary told him, even as she herself was trembling. “But Brian’s just called, and he says your dad’s had a bit of an accident.”

“What? What happened?” Little Freddie asked, instantly alarmed. “Is-is he okay?”

“Yes, he’s okay,” Mary reassured him. “According to Brian, he, Roger, John, and your dad went out for lunch together at Richoux, and Roger, John, and your dad had a bit too much to drink. Brian managed to get them all back to Garden Lodge on his own, and he thought settled down in the sitting room. Then he said he accidentally fell asleep, and when he woke up, your dad was at the top of the stairs, asking where were Jim, Phoebe, and Liza?” 

“Wait, where was Phoebe?” Little Freddie asked.

“Oh, well, apparently he’s been suffering from a cold and hasn’t been feeling well, so your dad gave him the night off and told him to go to bed and lie down and get some rest. So anyway, Brian said he told your dad not to move - to just stay there and he would come up to get him, but your dad wouldn’t listen and just kept stumbling towards the stairs, and just as he was about to step down onto the first step, one of the cats darted out in front on him, and tripped him, and he fell all the way down the stairs. So of course, Brian immediately called an ambulance, and they came and took him to hospital.”

“Which one?” Little Freddie said.

“Chelsea and Westminster,” Mary told him. “Because apparently his GP Dr. Atkinson has privileges there and knows some of the other doctors. They ran all sorts of tests, and they said luckily nothing’s broken, and he doesn’t have any kind of internal injuries or anything like that. He’s just banged up a bit and going to be sore for a while. They are keeping him overnight for observation, but Brian said the doctors said that’s just standard protocol when somebody falls and hits their head, to make sure they don’t have a concussion or anything. But he should be able to go home in the morning.” Then Mary took his hand. “But what I was wondering, darling, is if you wouldn’t mind going to the hospital and sitting with your dad for a little while. I would go myself, but I’ve got Kashmira and Richard here and they’re both sound asleep.”

“Of course, Mum!” Little Freddie got up and immediately started throwing on his clothes.

“Thank you so much, darling,” Mary told him, giving him a kiss on the cheek. “I really appreciate it. This’ll just make things so much easier for me. Brian’s called Jim, too, and he’s getting on the first flight back home to come and take care of your dad. And Phoebe will be at the hospital in the morning to pick your dad up and take him home, as he can’t be discharged into a minor’s care.”

Little Freddie nodded as he finished doing up the laces on his trainers.

“Here are your keys,” Mary told him, giving his keys back to him for the second time that day. “Please be careful and drive safely.”

“I will,” Little Freddie told her. He put his hands on her shoulders. “Are you sure you’re, alright? And the baby?”

“Yes, we’re both fine. I promise.” She’d calmed down considerably now, and was comforted by the knowledge that no matter what happened, her son would always be there for her. “I’ll call and let Brian know you’re on the way. And don’t worry about school tomorrow, darling. I’ll call your headmaster and let him know what’s happened.”

“Alright,” Little Freddie told her, giving her a kiss on the cheek. And then he was out the door and on his way to the hospital.

*******

When he got to the hospital, there were reporters swarming all around, having learned of his father’s accident. Luckily, Brian had had the foresight to tell the hospital staff, “His son is coming to sit with him.” So they arranged for a security guard to watch for him and escort him to his father’s room when he arrived.

“Well, no need to ask whose son you are. You look just like your father,” the man said when he came up to Little Freddie. “Officer Oscar Roberts at your service.” He held out his hand which Little Freddie shook. “Just follow me right this way lad and we’ll get you to your father’s room.” Little Freddie followed close behind while the officer shouted at the reporters, “Right you lot clear off!” Not that it did much good, they were both still blinded by the flash of cameras and bombarded with questions on every side:

“Freddie! Freddie! How’s your dad?”

“Freddie, what can you tell us about your father’s accident?”

When they finally made it inside they took the lift to the fourth floor where the Chelsea Wing was located – a 15-room unit for private in-patients who required “comfort, discretion, and peace” during their stay. Little Freddie was so glad to see that Brian, Roger, and John were all still there when he got to his father’s room. Freddie had sheepishly explained that he wasn’t used to being alone and that he’d never been in hospital before, and asked Brian and the others if they wouldn’t mind staying with him until Little Freddie got there. 

"Of course, Freddie!" Brian had took his hand. "We aren't going anywhere, and neither are you," he had reassured him with a soft smile. And it hadn’t been long before Little Freddie had arrived.

"Dad!" he cried as he came into the room. He came and gently wrapped his arms around Freddie's neck, then he pulled back. "What happened? Are you alright?" he asked even though his mum had, of course, already told him what had happened.

"Oh, I'm alright. I just drank a bit more than I should have-"

"A bit?!" Brian said.

"Oh, alright! A lot more than I should have. And I just took a little fall down the stairs," Freddie shrugged, as if it were no big deal and he hadn't almost broken his neck in the process. "Don't you worry about me. I'm a tough guy. I'm a trouper," he said. Little Freddie reached over and took his dad's hand in his, making a fist with their intertwined fingers. "You know, I-I'm getting a bit sleepy now," Freddie told them all drowsily.

Brian just happened to be looking at the clock when Freddie said this. The time read: 12:00 A.M. Midnight. "It's alright, Freddie. You go ahead and go to sleep," Brian told him. "Everything's going to be just fine now. I promise." So this was the way Freddie fell asleep, holding his son's hand while his friends kept close watch over him nearby. After Freddie had drifted off, Brian and the others got up to leave. But just before opening the door, Brian stopped and turned back.

"Listen, Freddie," he said, speaking to Little Freddie. "I know you and your dad might have trouble getting on sometimes, but I just want you to know he loves you. Very much. He thinks you're the best thing that's ever been. And when he talks about you, oh, his face just lights up." He paused a minute. "I guess what I'm saying is just don't take having him in your life for granted, because I can tell you from experience, things are never predictable, and nothing is certain." Then Brian gave him a warm smile. "Alright, promise me you'll take good care of him."

"I will, Mr. May. I promise," Little Freddie nodded seriously.

"That's a good boy." Brian and the others opened the door then and went out.

And just like that, as he was sat there watching his father sleep, an idea for a song came to Little Freddie – one that could be played on the acoustic guitar, just as Felix had been hoping. He carefully disentangled his fingers from his father’s grip, and went in search of a pen and pad of paper, and by chance he found some lying on the overbed bedside table nearby. He took them back to the chair beside his father’s bed, and there in the darkness, feverishly scribbled down the chords and lyrics dancing through his head.

*******

Freddie was exhausted and slept well that night, or as well as one could sleep in a hospital, what with the nurses coming in to do their ‘obs’ (temperature, pulse, and blood pressure) every so often, and not even a hint of bad dreams. When he woke up in the morning about 9, Little Freddie was sitting there in the chair beside him with a cup of tea.

“Milk and two sugars, just how you like it,” Little Freddie smiled, handing him the cup and saucer.

Just then, there was a knock at the door, and Freddie’s friend and GP Dr. Gordon Atkinson, came in along with the doctor who had attended Freddie last night.

“Good morning, Freddie!” he beamed. “How are you feeling?”

“Well, I’ve felt better, darling, I tell you,” Freddie said.

Dr. Atkinson extended his hand to Little Freddie. “How are you, young man?” Then he turned back to Freddie. “Right, let’s have a look here.” He carefully examined Freddie, but stopped when he came to his legs. The right was still quite swollen and discolored with bruising. “Hmmm. I’m still not liking the look of this right leg here. Do you still have his imaging available?” he asked the other doctor.

“Yes, it’s still available,” he answered.

“Right, would you mind if I had a look?”

“Of course,” the doctor told him. “Just this way.”

“We’ll be back in just a moment, Freddie,” Dr. Atkinson assured him.

In about five minutes, they were back.

“Well, I’ve got good news and bad news, Freddie,” Dr. Atkinson said. “The good news is that, as Dr. Lewis here told you last night – your leg isn’t broken.”

Freddie breathed a sigh of relief. “What-what’s the bad news?”

“The bad news is that you’re going to have stay off of that leg for a while – at least for the next month,” Dr. Atkinson told him.

“A month!” Freddie exclaimed.

“Now, correct me if I’m wrong, Freddie, but you’ve injured that leg before, haven’t you?” Dr. Atkinson asked.

“Yes, that’s right. It was about 7 years ago, I damaged the ligaments in my knee, fooling around with some friends in a bar in Munich. And then I reinjured it about 4 or 5 months later, when we were doing a concert at the Europehalle in Hannover in Germany. I actually twisted my knee again and it went and I fell down the stairs that were there on stage,” Freddie explained.

“Right, we’ll it seems you’ve aggravated an old war injury, as it were,” Dr. Atkinson chuckled. “Now what did they do the first time you injured your leg?”

Freddie was almost scared to tell him. “I was in a plaster (cast) from my thigh to the ankle,” he said.

“Hmmm. Yes, well, unfortunately, I’m afraid that’s what I’m going to suggest this time as well,” Dr. Atkinson told him, much to Freddie’s horror. “Oh now cheer up, Freddie!” he said. “That was quite a nasty fall you took there, and things could have turned out much worse.”

Freddie supposed he was right, but he didn’t have to be happy about it.

“The nurses will be in in a bit to put the plaster on and give you some instructions, and then you’ll be free to go home. And I’ll want to see you back in my surgery (office) in a month,” Dr. Atkinson told him. Then he turned to Little Freddie. “Take care of your father, young man. And see that he stays out of trouble,” he said, extending his hand to him again. “Though I think this plaster will keep him from doing anything too foolish for a while.”

“Yes, sir, I will,” Little Freddie told him with a smile.

Later, after the nurses had finished putting the plaster on, Phoebe arrived at the hospital to take Freddie home. 

“Oh, you’ve certainly done it this time, Freddie,” he laughed as he and Little Freddie helped get a frowning Freddie (currently pouting and sulking in his misfortune) dressed and into a wheelchair.

The discharge papers were signed, and the same security guard from the night before came to see them out. They went down in the lift to the ground floor, and then out a back entrance to where Terry was waiting with Freddie’s car. Then he accompanied Little Freddie back out front past the horde of reporters waiting to hound him, and out to where he had parked his car. Little Freddie shook his hand and thanked him, and then got in his car and headed towards Garden Lodge. When they got to Garden Lodge, they got Freddie into the house and settled down on the sofa in the sitting room, with his legged propped up on a pillow on the coffee table. That’s when Mary came in, carrying Richard in her arms.

“Freddie Mercury!”

Little Freddie looked at his father with an amused smile. _Uh-oh. He was in trouble._ Luckily, Mary didn’t have her hairbrush with her this time.

“Oh my God!” she exclaimed when she saw his leg in the plaster.

“It’s not broken,” Freddie told her. She sat Richard down on the floor and came over and wrapped her arms around his neck.

“Don’t you ever do anything like that ever again! Do you hear me? You scared me to death!” she scolded, ending with what sounded like a sob. “When Brian called I was so frightened. I thought-”

“Don’t worry, darling. I don’t expect to peg out for a while,” Freddie told her.

“Thanks to Brian!” Mary told him sternly. “Don’t even joke around about that, Freddie. I need you. The children need you. We can’t lose you, Freddie, please.” She pulled back. “Do I have to have the same talk with you that I did with our son?”

Seeing her so upset and frightened, made Freddie think for the first time about what could have happened – what almost _did_ happen, all because of a bit of silliness, and also what that would have meant, not only for Mary and the children, although they were his primary concern, but also for his parents, his sister Kash, Jim, Phoebe, Joe, Brian, Roger, John…Mary was the love of his life, and he’d promised her that he’d always look after her and that they’d grow old together and that he’d always be there by her side. And Freddie never broke a promise he made. It was something he’d taught Little Freddie as well – to always keep his word.

“Mm-mm.” Freddie shook his head. “No.” He wrapped his arms around her. “I’m so sorry, darling. I’m so sorry I frightened you. I promise I won’t ever do that again, alright? Only please don’t cry anymore, darling. You’re breaking my heart. You know I’ve never liked to see you cry, hmmm?” He kissed her and then she pulled back.

“I swear you and Freddie are going to be the death of me. You know that?” she said with a laugh as she wiped at her eyes with her thumbs. “But it’s only because I love you both so much. All my boys-” She picked Richard up and wrapped her arms around all three of them. “And I just worry about you all so much.”

“Don’t worry about us, Mum,” Little Freddie told her. “We’re all going to be alright because you’re a good mum. The best mum anybody could ever ask for, and we wouldn’t trade you for anyone or anything else.”

“Not even when I’m nagging you and getting on your nerves?” Mary asked.

“No, not even then,” Little Freddie said, giving her a grin. “And you don’t get on my nerves. Not really. Even though I know I act like it sometimes. But I know you’re just trying to look after us, and you want what’s best for us.”

“I do, Freddie. I really do.” Mary wiped away more tears from her eyes.

They all hugged her tight, even little Richard. "We love you, Mum," Little Freddie said. "Don't worry. Everything's going to be alright. We promise."

When they separated, Freddie turned back to Mary.

“Darling, there’s something I’ve been wanting to talk to you about,” he said. Now after his close brush with death, as it were, he realized there were some things he’d been putting off that couldn’t wait any longer. He was just so nervous!

But then Richard turned and wrapped his arms around Freddie’s neck. “Da-da.”

Freddie put his arm around him and looked up into Mary’s eyes.

“I want to adopt Richard and the new baby when he or she is born,” he said. “I mean as far as I’m concerned they _are_ my children, just as much as Freddie and Kashmira are. It’s a God-given situation. But I just wanted to ask-”

Suddenly Mary was hugging him so tightly he could barely breathe. “Oh, Freddie, there’s nothing to ask! You are. You are their father,” she cried. “Oh, Freddie, you’ve made me so happy.”

Freddie put his arm around her, holding her close, and his other arm he wrapped around _his boys_ , _his sons_ , swallowing hard and blinking away like mad to keep the tears from falling.

*******

A short while later, just after Mary had gone back home with Richard, Terry returned from the airport with Jim.

“I’ve ruined your trip,” Freddie lamented to him sadly, and Jim could tell he felt terribly guilty about what had happened.

“Don’t be daft,” Jim told him. “You haven’t ruined anything. I got to spend three days with my family. And there’s no way I could have enjoyed the rest of my holiday knowing you were laid up in pain with a bum leg without me here to take care of you.”

But Jim could tell Freddie still felt awful about everything.

“And if you’re that worried about it,” Jim went on, “you can still make it up to me, you know. The next time I decide to visit my family in Ireland, I’d love for you and all the kids to come too.”

“It’s a deal, darling,” Freddie told him without hesitation. Then they shared a gentle kiss and a heart-felt cuddle, though carefully so as not to hurt Freddie’s leg. It seemed just kissing and cuddling was what they’d have to settle with for now, and certainly no more swinging from the chandeliers, at least not for the next little bit anyway. But over the next few weeks he and Freddie would find that those cuddling sessions would be as rewarding in their way as any sex they ever had.

Jim stood up. “Right,” he said, taking charge, and was surprised when Freddie actually let him for once. “First, we get you some breakfast-”

And Freddie was glad he said that. What with everything going in, he hadn’t realized how hungry he was. He was starving, not having eaten now for almost 24 hours.

“And then a bath,” Jim said. “I'm sorry to say you don’t exactly smell like a bed of roses, Freddie.”

“Ha ha. Very funny,” Freddie said, and then, “Shut up, Phoebe!” as Jim and Phoebe laughed, but Freddie ended up laughing too.

Jim went into the kitchen and cooked Freddie a traditional Irish fry-up, very similar to a full English breakfast, which he brought into Freddie on a tray.

“This’ll put hair on your chest,” he said without thinking about it, an old saying his grandfather always used to say to him when he was little.

Freddie gave him an amused look. “Well, I don’t think I need any more hair on my chest, thank you very much,” he said, and they all burst out laughing again. And Jim was glad to see that despite his ordeal, Freddie hadn’t lost his sense of humour.

After Freddie had his breakfast, it was Jim's ingenious idea to wrap his leg in cling film which was then taped off around the edges so as not to get his plaster wet. 

"Clever bitch, aren't you?" Freddie said.

"I have my uses," Jim replied.

Then Little Freddie, Phoebe, and Jim helped Freddie upstairs to his bathroom and sat down on the edge of the bath. Little Freddie and Phoebe left, and Jim ran the bath as he helped Freddie get undressed. Once the bath had been run, Jim helped Freddie lower himself into the water, with his plastered leg propped up on the edge. Jim offered to help him bathe, and while that may have been a stimulating offer any other time, at this point Freddie was determined to do it all himself, if nothing else than just to prove that he could. Jim was no expert in psychology, but he knew that when people sustained injuries like this, they could feel frustrated at their sense of independence being taken away from them. So Jim placed a flannel (washcloth), soap, and shampoo nearby so Freddie could easily reach them, and then left him to it. When he'd finished, they did just did everything in reverse - Jim helped him out of the bath, dried off, and dressed in a pair of shorts and a vest. Freddie finished getting ready for the day, and then Little Freddie, Phoebe, and Jim helped him back downstairs to the sofa in the sitting room, which seemed would be Freddie's main domain for the foreseeable future.

By that time it was time for lunch, and Jim took to the kitchen again to make Freddie one of his favourite dishes - Irish stew with potatoes and dumplings.

"Keep this up and you'll put Liza and I right out of a job," Phoebe chuckled when he came into the kitchen to tell him he'd better make enough for seven, as Brian, Roger, and John were on their way over to come and check on Freddie.

"Ah, well, history certainly does have a way of repeating itself," Brian chuckled along with Roger and John when they saw the plaster on Freddie's leg. Freddie, however, sat with his arms folded across his chest, clearly not amused.

"Well, at least it's not broken, mate," Roger said.

Then lunch was served.

"Hairdresser, gardener, carpenter, nurse, chef- Is there anything you can't do, Jim?" Brian smiled as they sat around enjoying Jim's delicious stew.

Freddie beamed with pride. "Much more of this, and _The Sun_ will start calling me 'Flabulous Freddie' again," he said with a laugh. Freddie was referring to an incident that had occurred back in 1986, when Queen had performed at the annual Golden Rose rock festival in Montreux. _The Sun_ had later printed a photograph of Freddie taken while he was performing at the festival. Entitled "Fabulous Freddie", it showed off his slight paunch, which they wickedly described as his “midriff bulge”. Freddie had joked about it at the time, just as he was doing now, something he always did to try and disguise the fact that his feelings had been hurt, but Jim could tell it had upset him deeply.

"That's complete rubbish!" Jim scowled. "You barely eat enough now as it is. You need your strength." The others smiled at each other - _just like a regular Irish Mammy._

After they'd finished eating, Jim and Phoebe tidied up the kitchen, while the others went back into the sitting room. That's when Little Freddie looked down and noticed for the first time the stack of newspapers Phoebe had brought in for Freddie to peruse at his leisure. Furrowing his brow, he picked up the first copy on top - _The Sun_ , the same newspaper Freddie had had trouble with in the past. And from the looks of things he was in for even more trouble now. But apparently not just him.

"Er, Dad...What's this?" he asked, holding it up for them to see. A picture of Brian smacking Freddie’s arse was right on the front cover, with Roger and John in the background - Roger pointing and laughing hysterically and John standing beside him, eyes wide with shock. And instead of their song Save Me, the caption read: Spank Me, Spank Me, Spaaank Meee. And below that: Brian May was spotted smacking bandmate Freddie Mercury’s bum on Sunday at the Richoux in Mayfield…See page 16 for more details!

Freddie's face turned scarlet, while Brian cradled his head in his hands. "That...that's…," Freddie stuttered, at a complete loss for words.

"That's unfortunate, that's what that is," Roger answered for him. He took the newspaper from Little Freddie, who gladly handed it over. Whatever this was, he definitely didn't want to know! "But I wouldn't worry too much about it, mate," Roger said, shaking his head. "It's _The Sun_ , isn't it? A total rag. Like Jim said they're complete rubbish. Nobody in their right mind's going to believe anything they publish anyway."

"Only this really happened though, didn't it Rog?" Brian said, taking the newspaper from Roger. "I suppose we'd better inform Miami. Hopefully he'll be able to do some sort of damage control." He sighed. "Well, on that note, I think it's time to go." They got to their feet. "I'm really sorry about your leg, Freddie. And the...you know." He laughed gesturing at the newspaper. "But I'm so glad you're alright." Brian leant down to hug him, followed by Roger.

"Me too, mate," he said.

Then John. "Are you sure you're alright, Freddie?" he asked, and Freddie could hear the concern in his voice. Freddie's accident had really upset John, more so than the others. Freddie was his best friend, and sometimes he felt that Freddie was the only person who really understood him. When John joined Queen Freddie sort of took John under his wing because he was the new boy. He wanted to protect him from the extremes of the rock and roll lifestyle as Freddie felt John was the most innocent of the group. He was shy, not like Brian and Roger. And sometimes Freddie had been his voice...Just the thought of losing Freddie had frightened him so badly that'd he lain awake all night unable to sleep.

"I'm alright, darling. Don't worry," Freddie told him with a wink. "It'll take a lot more than that to get rid of me, I tell ya."

"Well, if you need anything, Freddie, anything at all, even if it's just somebody to talk to, you know we're only a phone call away," Brian told him.

"Thank you. I really appreciate it," Freddie said, reaching out to clasp their hands. "Thank you for looking after me so well me last night, and for staying with me until Freddie got to the hospital. I really don't know what I'd do without the three of you." But as they turned to go, Freddie stopped them. "There is one thing…"

They all turned back around. "Of course, Freddie! What is it?" Brian said.

Freddie thought about all the terrible dreams he'd been having, which had mysteriously disappeared since his accident. "I've been thinking a lot about a lot of things and...I was wondering how you all would feel about Queen founding our own AIDS charity." He stared down at his lap. "It's just that without the three of you looking after me and convincing me that I ought to take things seriously, I know the same thing would have ended up happening to me. So, if there's anything I can personally do to help, then I want to do it." He looked up then to see what they would say.

"I think that's a great idea, Freddie!" Brian beamed, and Freddie inwardly sighed a breath of relief.

"What would we call it?" Roger asked.

John surprised even himself when he said, "What about [ The Mercury Phoenix Trust ](http://www.mercuryphoenixtrust.com/)?" The name had come to him quite unbidden, but it seemed to fit. "It was your idea after all, Freddie."

"The Mercury Phoenix Trust..." Brian and Roger said together, trying out the new name.

"I think that sounds perfect, John," Brian told him. Then he turned to Freddie. "We'll bring it up with Miami as soon as we see him."

And Freddie smiled.

*******

Later that night, Mary came back over with Kashmira and Richard.

"Daddy!" Kashmira cried, running to hug his neck.

"Shhh. There, there. Don't cry, darling. I'm alright, I promise," he comforted, rubbing her back. "It's not broken."

"It's not?" Kashmira asked.

"Mm-mm," Freddie told her, wiping the tears from her eyes. It hurt him to see her cry.

"Then why did they put the plaster on?" she said.

"Well, the doctor just wants me to stay off of it for a while and keep it still so it can heal properly, so he put a plaster on," he explained.

"Does it hurt?" Kashmira asked.

"Only a little," Freddie told her, stroking her hair. He gave her a kiss. "But there is something you can do for me," he said.

"What is it?" she said.

"I want you to decorate my plaster for me," Freddie told her, and Kashmira's face instantly lit up. "You can decorate it any way you see fit. I know you'll do a good job. You're the best artist I know."

Kashmira was so excited she ran to get her markers from her bedroom upstairs and set to work immediately, already with a design in mind. 

Freddie smiled at her affectionately, watching her as she worked, and was reminded of Elton's song, [Tiny Dancer](https://youtu.be/65CNtap6bow), which unbeknownst to all of them would largely reflect Kashmira's life later on. She would help with seamstress duties - not for a band, but designing and sewing costumes for the Royal Ballet's wardrobe department, by whom she was also employed as a ballerina. She would also eventually fulfill her dream of traveling to America, when the Royal Ballet went there to perform shows. L.A. would quickly become her favorite city apart from New York which her father also loved. And during their off time, she and her friends went would go down to the shore where they laughed and danced in the sand. And later she would go on to marry a music man, a piano man, a Spaniard named Rogelio who was an opera pianist, whom she would meet when she moved to Spain to take up opera after retiring at the age of thirty-five from dancing as a ballerina with the Royal Ballet. They would eventually go on to give Freddie and Mary two beautiful grandchildren - Natalia and Samuel.

Freddie and Mary agreed that for the time being, Little Freddie would stay with Freddie, it was supposed to be his week with his father after all and he was old enough now to look after himself, while Mary would keep Kashmira and Richard with her, at least until Freddie had his plaster removed.

"But you're still grounded," Mary reminded Little Freddie. "Keys." She held out her hand and Little Freddie dug in his pocket and handed her back his keys. "Right, we'd better be going. I'm taking Kashmira and Richard out for pizza and ice cream."

"Ohhh," Kashmira whined, not wanting to leave, not yet having finished her decorating.

"It's alright, darling," Freddie told her. "You go and have fun with Mummy and Richard, and you can come back tomorrow and work on it some more."

"Richard, come along, darling," Mary called. Richard toddled over, but first stopped in front of Freddie and Little Freddie.

"Naugh-y! Naugh-y!" he scolded them with his tiny finger.

Mary scooped him up. "Yes, they've both been very naughty haven't they, darling," Mary said, smoothing his hair. "But I don't think either one of them will be being naughty again anytime soon." Then she turned to Freddie and Little Freddie. "Well, you boys have fun!" She told them, laughing as she walked away. 

"Naugh-y! Naugh-y!" Richard continued telling them off in adorable fashion over Mary's shoulder.

Once they'd gone, Little Freddie looked over at his father. "Well, it looks like we're both grounded, huh?" he laughed.

Freddie just gave him a look. "Go and put the tape on," he said.

"Ugh, alright," Little Freddie groaned, getting to his feet and walking over to the VCR.

"No, not that one," Freddie told him, when Little Freddie grabbed the Prince tape. "The other one."

So Little Freddie took the other tape that was there and put it in the VCR, and then came back and sat down beside his father.

It was the tape of The Sons of Queen performing at The Marquee.

Freddie smiled at his son, putting his arm around his shoulders. "This is my new favorite," he said, turning up the volume. "They're even better than Prince."

*******

Now there was just one more thing Freddie needed to do. After Little Freddie had gone to bed, Freddie and Jim sat beside each other on the sofa watching telly. Jim had just about drifted off, when he felt Freddie moving around.

"What's the matter?" Jim asked, instantly awake. "Are you hurting?"

"I know this isn't a very romantic way of going about this. I can't even get down on one knee for fuck's sake," Freddie said, totally confusing poor Jim. Was Freddie trying to get frisky already? Then the significance of what Freddie had just said hit him.

Eventually Freddie gave up and fell back against the cushions. He looked over at Jim. "What I'm trying to say, darling, is that one day same-sex marriage is going to be legalized in this country, I know it. And when that day comes I was wondering - Will you marry me?"

Jim was struck absolutely speechless. "Of course I will!" he managed to say at last. "I mean we've already got the rings and we've already gone on the honeymoon for God's sake," he laughed, referring to the once in a lifetime trip to Japan he and Freddie had gone on together.

"It's just I've never asked you properly before and I wish I could have done it much better than this, darling," Freddie said, shaking his head. "But I didn't want to wait to do it any longer. And I'd like to make it official as soon as possible, as soon as they allow it. That is, if you'll have me." He looked up at Jim again.

"I'll have you," Jim said.

"You know I love you very much," Freddie told him. "And I'm so glad I finally found you. I didn't realize it at the time, but when I wrote all those songs about finding somebody to love, you were the one I'd been searching for all along. And I couldn't ask for better."

"I love you," Jim said. "And I'm glad you found me too."

Then they shared a kiss.

"Well, you'd better start now," Jim told him teasingly. "It'll take you between now and then to plan the damn thing. Heaven help us all."

"Oh, you bugger," Freddie said, but he was smiling. And they kissed again.

***BONUS* Here are some pictures of the times Freddie injured his leg. The first picture is of him in a leg plaster after injuring his leg the first time. And the second picture is when he was being carried off stage after injuring his leg the second time.**

**Also, here are some YouTube links you might find of interest:**

**1\. Freddie Mercury Injures His Leg On Stage 1984 (Audio Only):** [ **https://youtu.be/O0DsO7voOBg** ](https://youtu.be/O0DsO7voOBg)

**2.** **Freddie Mercury Interview In Munich in 1985 (Discussing his leg injury with his reporter friend, David Wigg):** **[https://youtu.be/el8YxqSdzm](https://youtu.be/el8YxqSdzmQ) [Q](https://youtu.be/el8YxqSdzmQ)**

 **3\. At the end of the video for It's A Hard Life, you can see Freddie favouring his injured leg when he sits himself down on the steps. He had just recently gotten his plaster off before starting work on the video:** **<https://youtu.be/uHP-qgzUVLM?t=212>**

**And lastly, if you'd like to read a very funny story about what Elton John did when he found out Freddie had hurt his leg, here is a[link](https://books.google.com/books?id=E2y6f_ReQOsC&pg=PT81&dq=horseplay+freddie+mercury&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi7i8CnkcfsAhUFLqwKHc3yDQYQ6AEwAHoECAEQAg#v=onepage&q=horseplay%20freddie%20mercury&f=false). It's a Google book link to an excerpt from Peter Freestone (Phoebe's) book - Freddie Mercury: An Intimate Memoir By The Man Who Knew Him Best. An excellent read.**


	13. My Father's Son

So the week went by and Little Freddie still hadn’t said whether his mum was going to let him sign or not, and Felix was beginning to get worried. Of course Little Freddie wasn’t allowed to use the phone, so Felix had Robert ask him about it at school on Saturday, the day before the meeting.

“I don’t know, mate.” Little Freddie told him. “We talked to my dad about it like she said, and he said yes, as long as I keep my grades up, and be respectful, and follow the rules from now on. But then my mum said she still needed to think about it. So I don’t know.” He shrugged his shoulders, shaking his head, obviously beginning to despair himself.

That’s when Felix really started getting concerned, but he supposed there was nothing for it other than just to wait and see what happened, though that was easier said than done. Little Freddie and his dad still had one more night to try to get Mary to change her mind.

But they hadn’t ever heard anything back from him, and now here it was Sunday afternoon. Felix, Jimmy, and Robert as well as Brian, Roger, John, and Miami were gathered at EMI’s headquarters at 20 Manchester Square in London, where they waited outside the offices of Mr. Jack Jones. And Felix was completely freaking out now, desperately trying to get through to Garden Lodge, but he just kept getting the engaged tone (busy signal).

[Unbeknownst to Felix, the reason for this was that Phoebe was currently tied up on the phone with Elton, who had called to talk to Freddie, and when Elton was in a chatty mood, trying to get him off the phone was like trying to keep Freddie on the sofa this past week. Finally, Phoebe and Jim had given up, and threatened to phone Mary to come over and make him behave.

“Or maybe we ought to phone Brian to come over and give him another spanking,” Jim said, and Freddie gasped in indignance at the betrayal. But then he decided to play it cool.

“Fine. If you think it needs doing, darling, then go ahead and phone him. See if I care,” he said, folding his arms over his chest. “Hut. I’m not scared of Brian May.”

But instead of calling their bluff, they called his, and immediately phoned Brian to tell him about the situation, putting him on speaker phone so that Freddie could hear.

“Hmmm, right,” Brian said, “Well, you tell Freddie that I’m more than willing to come over there and do _whatever_ is necessary to make sure he follows doctor’s orders so that his leg can heal properly.”

Freddie just scoffed again, but they could tell Brian’s threat had made him nervous, and he was much better behaved after that.]

“It’s fine,” Felix said, wiping the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief from the pocket of his suit jacket. “I’m sure they’re on their way now. Probably just got stuck in traffic or something. Let’s just go in the meeting and everybody act cool.”

So the secretary showed them in and they all shook hands with Jack Jones and Jacob Williams who was also there, then sat down, trying to be cool like Felix had said.

“So where are Freddie and, uh…Freddie?” Jack asked, chuckling at his own little joke.

“They’re currently indisposed of at the moment,” Felix said, giving them what he hoped came across as a confident smile.

“But it’s alright. I’m authorized to represent their interests,” Miami put in quickly.

“Right,” Jack said, clearing his throat as he shuffled the papers in front of him. “I suppose we’ll just get right down to it then…EMI is prepared to offer The Sons of Queen a recording contract of 4 million pounds.”

Hearing that was like getting the breath knocked out of you, but in a good way.

“How-how much did you say?” Felix asked, tilting down his sunglasses. 

“4 million pounds,” Jack repeated.

Felix tilted his sunglasses back up. “Yeah, that’ll be fine,” he said, continuing with his confident act. “So where do we sign?”

“Now hold on a minute, Felix,” Roger said with a small laugh. “I think we’d rather hear all the details first.”

Brian and John nodded their agreement.

“I wish Freddie were here to hear all of this,” Brian whispered to John.

At that exact moment, the doors opened, and who should walk in but Mary along with Kashmira, carrying Richard in her arms, and Little Freddie pushing Freddie in a wheelchair. They were all dressed quite nicely, Mary in a women’s maternity trouser suit and sunglasses, Kashmira in a pretty dress, and Freddie, Little Freddie, and Richard in polo shirts and nice jeans. Mary and the children had just come directly from church before going by Garden Lodge to pick up Freddie for the meeting.

“Sorry, we’re late,” she apologized. “But when you’re looking after three-” she stopped, looking down at Freddie. “-four children, I’m sure you can appreciate how crazy things can be.”

“Well if it isn’t the man of the hour!” Jack grinned, he and Jacob coming over to shake their hands.

And as happy as Felix was to see Little Freddie, he couldn’t pretend that the comment hadn’t hurt.

“Ms. Austin,” Jack turned to Mary, after shaking Little Freddie’s hand. Then he came to Freddie. “We were all very sorry to hear about your accident, Freddie,” he said.

“Hopefully he didn’t hear about it from _The Sun_ ,” Roger said quietly to Brian and John, making them laugh.

“But glad to see that you’re doing alright,” Jack continued. “[Doing Alright](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqP8xLF3TE4&ab_channel=QueenOfficial), huh?” he joked again in reference to one of Queen’s songs, and punched Freddie lightly on the arm, which Freddie found rather annoying. Then Jack looked down and noticed the plaster on Freddie’s leg. “Where did you get that amazing plaster?”

Kashmira had finished her work, decorating the entire plaster in a beautiful, intricately detailed Japanese design.

“My daughter, Kashmira, did it for me,” Freddie told him.

“Kashmira, our little Kashmira, did all of that?” Roger asked in amazement, as Kashmira smiled, blushing at the compliment.

“Yes, that’s right. She’s the best little artist I know,” Freddie said proudly, giving her a wink. Then it was time to get back down to business. “So what’s been said so far?” he asked.

“Right,” Jack said, returning to his place behind his desk.

Little Freddie came and sat down beside Felix.

“Hey, mate,” Felix said, clasping his hand.

“As I was telling the others EMI is prepared to offer The Sons of Queen a recording contract of 4 million pounds,” Jack said. He then went on to explain all the details. Freddie, Brian, Roger, John, and Miami asked questions on the boys’ behalf, and in the end it was decided that overall it sounded like a pretty fair deal – the kind of deal that they themselves hadn’t been able to attain until much later in their careers. So Jack took out a slender black box from his desk and sat it on the desk in front of Felix. Opening it, he revealed a Cartier golden pen, which he saved for just such occasions as these. Felix grinned, looking over at the others. Then he took the pen from its velvet lined case, and holding the paper down with his other hand, signed his name to the contract, which he then passed to Jimmy, then Robert, and last of all, Little Freddie. But just before Little Freddie signed his name, Mary stopped him.

“Uh, just a moment-” she said. “Before he signs, I have some stipulations of my own that will need to be considered.” She rummaged around in her handbag and then, much to Little Freddie’s embarrassment, pulled out her copy of the contract she’d made him sign, which she handed to Jack.

“What’s this?” he asked.

“That is a contract I had Freddie sign when he joined the band, with a list of rules that must be followed until he turns 18 in February and leaves school,” she told him. “As well as the consequences for breaking those rules.”

“Your mum’s a total badarse, mate,” Felix teased, making Little Freddie want to die even more.

Jack studied the paper carefully. “I see it says here, ‘ _disciplinary action_ _including but not limited to_ ’, under the consequences section. Um, what other sorts of disciplinary action might we be talking about?” he inquired.

“Trust me mate, you don’t want to know,” Felix told him.

"That means he gets a spanking," Kashmira clarified helpfully, earning herself a stern reprimand from her mother. Little Freddie wished the earth would just open up and swallow him.

“Oh!” Jack's eyes widened. “Hmmm. Yes, well, I think we can accommodate for all of these," he said, handing the paper back to Mary.

“And he’s grounded right now, by the way,” Mary told him, casting a glance at Little Freddie. “For two more weeks, so he won’t be able to do anything before then.”

“Yes, ma’am. Understood,” Jack nodded his head. “I’m not going to be having the boys doing any more gigs for the time being anyway. No, what I’d like to do is get them in the studio to release a couple of singles, and then start work on their first album. That is if you boys have a couple of songs ready to go?”

Felix slung his arm around the others’ shoulders. “Yeah, we’ve got a couple songs ready, and we’re working on more.”

“And I’ve already got them some studio time booked,” Freddie said, as all the boys turned to look at him with questioning looks. “At Abbey Road Studios. It was going to be a surprise, but…” He smiled.

The boys gasped, grinning at each other.

“Excellent,” Jack said. “Depending on how everything goes, I’ve set a preliminary release date for the album for May 15th, which will also be the starting date for their first tour - a UK tour, with a few gigs in Germany, Luxembourg, and Australia thrown in. How does that sound?” he asked.

“That...that sounds great,” Little Freddie answered, breathlessly, and he and the others couldn’t help wondering if all this was really happening to them.

So at last, Little Freddie took the pen and added his name to the contract. Then Jack and Jacob reached out to shake all their hands again. 

“Gentlemen,” Jack said. “Welcome to EMI.”

*******

Luckily, the studio time Freddie had booked for them didn't start until 2 weeks after the meeting, and just so happened to fall on the exact date Little Freddie was released from being grounded. He and Robert had also just finished taking their end of term tests, and were now out of school until the new term began in January. So the timing seemed perfect.

The boys all agreed they wanted their fathers to produce their two singles and their album, and they wanted Rheinhold Mack for their sound engineer. So they had Mack flown in from Germany, and the boys went into the studio and recorded their first single _The Sons of Queen_ , which they already performed as part of the setlist for their shows. But when it came to the other single they weren't sure what to do. They had some other songs, but they all still needed a lot of work. The closest to being ready was Felix's song _Woman You're So Beautiful_ , but he still wasn't quite happy with that one yet either. In the end, Little Freddie ended up showing them the song he'd written about his dad while he was staying with him that night in hospital.

"You know, your dad did the same thing for me once," Brian reminisced with a smile. "He told me one day he had a surprise for me - he said, ‘I’ve written a song about you - but it needs your touch on it!’ I think, curiously, we were both working on songs separately which referred to each other. Can’t remember which one of mine it was, since a lot of my songs were obliquely aimed at him, as well as to be sung by him! Anyway, we got in the studio and he played this song - [Soul Brother](https://youtu.be/biTEw6knPFY). Now whether it was really about me I don’t know. But I thought it was fab. I know he wrote it in about 15 minutes!"

So they waited for a time when Freddie was out of the studio, then grabbed Little Freddie's acoustic guitar and set to work. Fortunately, it came easily and by the time Freddie returned to the studio they had it ready for him to hear.

Freddie was in the control room with Brian, Roger, John, Mack, and the other boys.

"We've decided on the song for our second single," Little Freddie told him from the recording area. "I wrote it the night you were in hospital."

And Freddie could already feel the sentiment beginning to rise in his chest as he guessed what that meant.

"The lyrics and chords are on that sheet of paper there if you want to have a look,” Little Freddie said, indicating a sheet of paper lying on the mixing board. “Anyway, see what you think.” He began playing the chords he and the others had worked out, eyes closed in concentration, and sang:

_Mama called you up to tell you, "He has your face."_  
_You were down 'cause you had to be some other place_  
_When you came back you held me in your arms a while_  
_At last you got to see that we share the same smile_  
_And even back then it was so easy to see..._

_I am my father's son_  
_My story's just begun_  
_Got lots more days of fun_  
_To run beneath the sun_  
_I am my father's son_

_Now I'm older and I've got these plans of my own_  
_Sometimes you stare at me saying, "Son, how you've grown."_  
_I'm thinking I've got everything all figured out_  
_All we seem to do now days is fight, scream, and shout!_  
_But even so, you know that this will always be..._

_I am my father's son_  
_Though your advice I shun_  
_I won't hear anyone!_  
_This world I'm gonna stun!_  
_I am my father's son_

Freddie looked over at Brian and the others, his jaw clenched tight with emotion and the glint of tears in his eyes, and shook his head like he couldn’t believe it, and they smiled back at him.

_The time has passed us by so very fast it seems_  
_You helped me to chase and conquer all my of dreams_  
_You always made sure you gave me the very best_  
_Now's it's time for you to take it easy and rest_  
_All that's left to do now is just to trust in me..._

_I am my father's son_  
_Thinkin' 'bout all we've done_  
_You were second to none_  
_I'm glad you were the one_  
_I am my father's son_

After he’d finished, Little Freddie put the guitar in its stand and came into the control room. “So what do you think?” he asked. “I mean, I don’t know. I’m still not sure about the-” 

Freddie came over and wrapped his arms around him and they held each other close. “Thank you,” he said.

*******

After they’d finished their two singles, EMI moved quickly to get the singles released and get them some airplay. 

And Freddie knew just the man for the job – his good friend, Kenny Everett, still England’s most popular and beloved radio host, with millions of listeners every day, and still one of the most influential figures in the music industry, even after all these years. He was also lucky to be alive, though of course he didn’t know that. 

[Freddie had shared with all his friends as well as every man he slept with, the knowledge that he and the others had gleaned from that fateful sexual education class back in April 1974, about the terrifying new social disease going around.

“So terrible, so sinister that it doesn’t even have a name yet,” Freddie would tell them, eyes going wide for effect. “No name, and no cure.”

“And what happens if you catch it?” the person would ask, perhaps with a gulp.

“Oh, it makes your dick rot and fall off, dear…Literally rot and fall off…,” Freddie would say, casually examining his black painted fingernails. “And then…you die!”

The person would gasp in fright.

“And I have pictures here if you don’t believe me!” Freddie would tell them, brandishing the pictures he’d nicked from the class for this express purpose.

And he would always give them three condoms each from his stash – one for the evening, one to save for later, and one to give to a friend, thereby doing his part and “saving the world one shag at a time”, as it were. And even later, when he started hanging out with his new friends in New York, a.k.a. “The New York Daughters”, he would always look after them.

“Right. Has everyone got plenty of condoms?” he would ask before they went out clubbing for the night.]

“Right, here we are in Capitol tower with cuddly Ken and Freddie Mercury and uh…Freddie Mercury,” Kenny chuckled to the audience when Freddie and Little Freddie had gone on _The Kenny Everett Radio Show_. “My good friend Freddie Mercury of the rock band Queen, and his son also Freddie Mercury, who has his own band now – The Sons of Queen, and we’re nattering on about their two new singles – the first of which you just heard – _The Sons of Queen_. And the second one we’re going to play in just a moment – a beautiful little acoustic number about a son’s love for his father – _My Father’s Son_. They’re both out just in time for Christmas and dying to dive into your stocking, so be sure to save room!” Later, Kenny also asked about the album release and their upcoming tour.

“The album’s also going to be called _The Sons of Queen_ , and it’s going to be released May 15th, which is also the date of our first concert of the tour - at Queen Mary College in Basingstoke,” Little Freddie told him.

“Did you hear that folks, and all you lucky buggers in Basingstoke?” Kenny said to the audience. “May 15th – Queen Mary College. Save the date! You don’t want to miss it!”

And just like he’d done with _Bohemian Rhapsody_ (which he’d played 14 times over the course of two days!), he gave their singles significant airplay, causing them to shoot straight to the top of the charts, and turning Little Freddie and the others into overnight successes, and making EMI very happy with pound signs in their eyes. He'd do the same thing with some of the other songs from their new album when they came back on his show again in May.

*******

And so it was a very happy Christmas they celebrated that year, even for Freddie who'd gone to Dr. Atkinson's surgery the day before Christmas Eve, begging and pleading for him to take his plaster off before Christmas. 

"Alright," Dr. Atkinson agreed at last. "But under one condition - that you stay off of that leg until after Christmas!" 

Freddie readily agreed. And at the end of the visit, once the plaster had been removed, and his leg examined, he stood up to walk out. But Dr. Atkinson stopped him.

"Ah-ah! What did I just say?! Wheelchair!" he said, indicating the wheelchair Phoebe had brought Freddie in. Freddie had been about to complain, but Dr. Atkinson cut in - "Otherwise I might just decide I still don't like the look of that leg after all, and put you back in plaster - for another month!"

So Freddie sat down in the wheelchair with a sheepish smile. He thanked his friend again, and then he and Phoebe headed home to Garden Lodge.

"So what did the doctor say?" Jim asked when they arrived.

"He took Freddie's plaster off, but he said he's to stay off his leg until after Christmas," Phoebe reported, casting a look down at Freddie.

Well that lasted all of about 5 minutes. Freddie waited until Phoebe and Jim were out of sight, then he got up off the sofa and began going round the house, busy organizing and supervising the decorations and preparations for the next day and Christmas. And Joe couldn't help but laugh at Freddie's trickery. But it wasn't so funny a few minutes later when Jim and Phoebe walked in and caught him, along with Brian and Peter Straker (another good friend of Freddie's) who had just arrived.

"Freddie, just what on earth do you think you're doing?" Jim scolded in Irish mammy style. "Dr. Atkinson said you're to stay off your leg until after Christmas!"

Freddie started to argue, but before he could open his mouth, Brian spoke.

"Freddie…," he said his name warningly as he took off his coat, laying it across a nearby chair.

"But-" Freddie tried.

"One...Two…," Brian began counting, with Freddie stubbornly staying where he was. "Don't make me say three, Freddie."

"Fine!" Freddie said, sitting down on the sofa. "Hmph!" he crossed his arms over his chest, pouting and sulking like a child who'd been told no. Brian just smiled and shook his head, while Peter burst out laughing. 

But Phoebe and Jim realized it was important that Freddie feel part of what was going on, so they came to the sofa and consulted with him on all that they were doing. And later they did manage to cheer him up, especially when some of the other guests started arriving. Phoebe spoke to them in private telling them Freddie was perhaps feeling a bit left out of the festivities this year due to his leg, so they all made sure to make him feel included and not left sitting alone on the sofa while everyone else had their fun. And the next two days were spent celebrating a wonderful Christmas filled with lots of laughter, love, and joy with family and friends.

*******

The rest of December and January flew by, and in February when he turned 18, Little Freddie took his final tests and left Eton with high marks. And even though Robert was nearly a year and a half behind Little Freddie, he did the same, although it took a bit more finagling for him. In England _schooling_ was compulsory until age 16, but _education_ until age 18. But this "education" could be either academic or vocational, and take any number of forms, including work-based apprenticeships, traineeships, or volunteering. So John, with the help of the others, got the paperwork in order saying Robert was undergoing vocational education in the entertainment industry, specifically to become a musical performer. And luckily it was accepted by the educational administrators. So now the boys were all free to dedicate their time to working on their upcoming album.

Little Freddie and Mary also moved out together into their own two-storey rental house in a neighbourhood of other rental houses in Kensington's Victoria Road. Little Freddie unlocked and opened the door, then picked up Mary in his arms, carrying her across the threshold as she giggled and kissed him. They wasted no time in, ahem, christening their new abode, and Mary got to see all that she had been missing out on and vice versa.

"They're at it again!" their elderly neighbour Mr. Jackson said to his wife Isla, as he watched from the window with his binoculars at Little Freddie pulling down the bedroom shade. "Good lord, lad! Save some for later! That's the third time today!"

"William!" his wife scolded. "Stop spying on the new neighbours!"

*******

It was also in February that another little miracle came into the world when Mary gave birth to her baby.

One afternoon Mary called over to Garden Lodge to say that her water had broken and her contractions were now about five minutes apart, so she'd phoned the doctor and had been told to come to the hospital. And Freddie immediately started freaking out. Unfortunately he hadn't been there for the birth of either of his own children, and when Mary had given birth to Richard she'd still been with Pierre at the time, so this was all new to Freddie. Phoebe had never seen him this nervous - not even when he'd met his idol Montserrat Caballé. So they all piled into Freddie's car - Freddie, Jim, Phoebe, Joe, Mary, Kashmira, and Richard - and headed toward to the hospital with Terry driving.

"Everything's going to be alright, darling. Just breathe and squeeze my hand," Mary said to Freddie as they were on their way, beginning to wonder of it was her or him who was having this baby.

Phoebe, sitting on Freddie other side, called up Brian, Roger, and John to let them know. "I was just calling to let you know Freddie's gone into labor," Phoebe crowed. "I'd say he's at about a 10!" And all the others laughed. He also phoned Little Freddie and Mary to inform them as well, and Little Freddie said they would head that way right now and meet them at the hospital.

And instead of Mary, it was Freddie who Phoebe wheeled into the hospital in a wheelchair, while Mary calmly checked in at the reception desk at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital's Kensington Wing on the third floor, which provided private maternity services. This was, after all, her fourth time to go through this.

"Right. You can just have a seat in the waiting area, if you'd like, Ms. Austin, and we'll get you back in just a few minutes," the nurse smiled at her warmly.

Mary thanked her and they went to sit down in the waiting area, where Freddie was wheeled over to join the line of wheelchairs in which sat the other hyperventilating first time fathers, while their wives sat calmly flicking through their magazines, waiting for their turn to be called back.

Little Freddie and Mary arrived shortly, and when Freddie and Mary were called back, they volunteered to watch Kashmira and Richard.

"We don't mind," Mary assured them. "It'll be good practice for us," she smiled at Little Freddie.

Once they'd gotten them back and settled into one of the rooms, a nurse came in to start an IV and give Mary some pain meds.

"And maybe a little something for him as well," Mary joked to the nurse about Freddie who was sat in a nearby chair still freaking out. "Fred-die!" she laughed after the nurse had gone out. "I promise you, everything's going to be alright," she told him. "Here. Come and hold my hand." So Freddie moved his chair over and held her hand while Mary closed her eyes and rested, comforted and completely at ease as long as she had him by her side.

Later, when things has progressed and the nurse came in to give Mary her epidural, she leaned her head against Freddie's chest, who was stood in front of her, and nearly fainted when he saw the size of the needle. 

"Just close your eyes and don't look, darling," Mary told him.

But it was all worth it when later as Mary squeezed his hand, and gave one last push, the baby was born.

"It's a boy!" the nurse announced, laying him on Mary's chest as she sobbed with joy.

"Daddy, would you like to cut the cord?" the nurse asked turning to Freddie, who stood stunned in amazement at the beautiful thing he had just witnessed.

"Alright," he managed to say.

The nurse handed him the scissors. "Just cut right through here," she told him, indicating where he should cut. Freddie cut through the cord, then the nurse gently took the scissors from his hand.

"Hello, darling. Hello, Jamie," Mary cooed to her newborn son - Jamie Alistair Austin (later Mercury). "Would you like to hold him?" she asked Freddie later after the nurses had cleaned the baby up, swaddling him in a soft blanket, and placing a little cap on his head.

Freddie took the baby in his arms and looking down into that little innocent face, he was instantly overwhelmed by a feeling of such unconditional love, the same as when he'd held his own children for the first time.

"He's beautiful," Freddie told Mary, with tears in his eyes, and he leant down and kissed him.

A little later Little Freddie and Mary brought in Kashmira and Richard to meet and hold their new baby brother, which melted all their hearts when Richard leant down and kissed the baby. Then it was Little Freddie's turn. He took the baby, holding him gently and securely in his arms against his chest.

"Hey, mate," he said, then leant down and kissed him, as both Marys' hearts nearly burst with pride.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading and for all the kind comments, kudos, and support. It means a lot to me and I really appreciate it. I hope you've enjoyed it so far. :)
> 
> Chapter 14 coming soon!

**Author's Note:**

> I would really appreciate no criticism (constructive or otherwise), or negativity in the comments section, please. This is just my hobby that I do for fun. Thank you! :)
> 
> Copyright © May 20, 2020 DonnieTheFu All Rights Reserved
> 
> ***DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fiction. Any semblance between original characters and real persons, living or dead, is coincidental. The author in no way represents the companies, corporations, or brands mentioned in this work. The likeness of historical/famous figures have been used fictitiously; the author does not speak for or represent these people. All opinions expressed in this work are the author’s, or fictional.***


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